Curry strains knee in return from injury

OAKLAND, California – Stephen Curry returned from a six-game absence with a right ankle injury only to strain his left knee after scoring 29 points, and the beat-up, undermanned Golden State Warriors held off the Atlanta Hawks 106-94 on Friday night

Curry grimaced as he hopped around and made it to the bench on a tender left side with 3:09 left in third after JaVale McGee fell over and the center’s right elbow appeared to pound into Curry’s left knee. The two-time MVP immediately sat in a chair and put his head down before going into the locker room.

Nick Young scored 24 points with six 3-pointers as the defending champions were already down their other All-Stars – Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Curry overcame a slow start in his return, shooting 10 for 18. He had rolled the ankle at Atlanta on March 2 but initially kept playing before re-injuring it.

In Toronto, Kyle Lowry had 25 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in his 10th triple-double with Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points and the Raptors beat Brooklyn, 116-112, for their 12th straight victory over the Nets.

DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Fred VanVleet had 16 and Pascal Siakam 11 to help the Eastern Conference leaders bounce back from a loss at Cleveland on Wednesday night. The Raptors improved to an NBA-best 30-6 at home.

Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell had 18 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his first career tripledouble. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Allen Crabbe each scored 18 points, DeMarre Carroll had 14 and Jarrett Allen 13 for the Nets.

In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 27 points in three quarters, Kevin Love added 20 and Cleveland welcomed back three players from injury in a 120-95 blowout victory over Phoenix.

James added nine assists and six rebounds before watching and cheering from the bench in the fourth while the Cavs rolled to an easy win with their healthiest roster in weeks. Forwards Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood all returned from injuries.

Phoenix was without its top two scorers, Devin Booker (right hand sprain) and T.J. Warren (left knee inflammation). But even they might not have been able to stop the Suns from losing their 10th in a row and 25th in 27 games.

In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 17 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma City beat Miami, 105-99.

Westbrook went 6 for 7 from the field and made 3 of 4 free throws in the final period. He also finished with 13 rebounds and eight assists.

In other NBA games, it was Spurs 124, Jazz 120, OT; Timberwolves 108, Knicks 104; Portland 105, Boston 100; Bucks 118, Bulls 105; Pacers 109, Clippers 104; Nuggets 108, Wizards 100.