Warriors beat Kings to improve to 18-0
OAKLAND: Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 19 points in the first quarter and Draymond Green had his second straight triple-double as the Golden State Warriors extended their NBA record to 18 straight wins at the start of a season on Saturday with a 120-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Leading by 10 points at half-time, the defending champions Warriors opened the third quarter with a 27-8 run that included four three-pointers by Brandon Rush to build the lead to 29 points. The Kings never got close the rest of the game.
Green had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, becoming the first Warriors player with back-to-back triple-doubles since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964. A night earlier, he had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 135-116 win at Phoenix.
Rush had 16 points and Klay Thompson added 15 for the Warriors.
Rudy Gay scored 20 points for Sacramento.
“They’re on a magic carpet ride right now. They’re playing great,” Gay said. “They’re just playing well right now. They’re moving the ball and everybody’s shooting the ball. Their defence is great. You hate to be on the losing side of it, but it’s impressive.”
The Warriors’ 22nd straight regularseason victory tied the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the third-longest such streak in NBA history, trailing only the 33 straight by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and 27 in a row by the 2012-13 Miami Heat.
Elsewhere, LeBron James made a running hook shot with a second left and scored 26 points, giving Cleveland a 90-88 victory over Brooklyn.
After Joe Johnson’s three foul shots tied it with 15.2 seconds left, the Cavaliers called timeout and took the ball at midcourt. James took the inbounds pass, dribbled to the top of the key before cutting to the right of the lane and hitting a hook shot over Brook Lopez.
James scored 10 points and added a key steal late in the game to help Cleveland remain unbeaten at home in nine games. Kevin Love also scored 26 points for Cleveland.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as San Antonio won their fifth straight, holding the Atlanta to several season lows offensively in a 108-88 win.
San Antonio matched a season high with nine three-pointers in winning their 18th consecutive home game against Atlanta and 10th straight overall against the Hawks.
Atlanta had season lows for points in any quarter (12 in the second) and first-half points (37) and matched a season low for total points.