Warriors rely on 3rdquarter blitz to beat Grizz
OAKLAND — In a time of sluggishness and inefficiency, the Golden State Warriors jumpstarted their engine by returning to a remedy that often camouflaged last season’s inconsistency.
The Warriors finished with a 117-101 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies because of a third-quarter blitz. After struggling against the Grizzlies’ grinding and slow-tempo style, the Warriors quickly went into overtime. The Warriors turned a 58-58 halftime tie into a 92-73 cushion entering the fourth quarter en route to an eighth consecutive win and a tie for a league-best 10-1 record.
The Warriors scored 14 unanswered points through over two minutes late in the third quarter. The run began with an Alfonzo McKinnie pull-up jumper and ended with a McKinnie 23-footer. In between, Stephen Curry sank a 27-foot 3-pointer, Kevin Durant made a pair of jump shots and Kevon Looney converted on a layup. Meanwhile, Memphis (5-3) finished with a season-low 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the field.
All of which helped the Warriors erase their initial struggles against the Grizzlies. Curry had 19 points, while shooting a rarely inefficient 6-of-17 from the field. Warriors forward Draymond Green missed the entire second half with a right foot contusion. And the Warriors frontcourt in Damian Jones (five) and Jordan Bell (four) became hobbled with foul trouble.
The Warriors compensated elsewhere. Klay Thompson had a team-leading 27 points while shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point
range. Durant added 22 points on a 7of-11 clip and an 8-of-8 mark from the free-throw line. And the Warriors dominated in the third period.
In other action around the league:
Zach LaVine’s career-high 41 leads the Bulls to double-OT victory
NEW YORK — The Bulls do not believe they have to pick a lane.
Coach Fred Hoiberg wants to rebuild — and win while they’re doing it.
So even though the Bulls entered Monday night’s game at Madison Square Garden with an injury-depleted roster and a 2-8 record, Hoiberg said there’s no talk within the organization of playing for a higher draft pick.
“No, it hasn’t changed anything,” he said.
The Bulls ended their four-game losing streak in a game that neither team seemed to want to win. When the players weren’t missing shots, they were tossing passes out of bounds or stepping on the end line.
In the end, after two overtimes, the Bulls emerged with a 116-115 victory. For that they can thank Zach LaVine, who scored a career-high 41 points.
In the second overtime, LaVine might have gotten sick of seeing Cameron Payne miss jumpers. He took matters into his own hands, scoring eight points in the final fiveminute session.
Dragic returns as Whiteside-less Heat hold off Pistons in OT
DETROIT — This was the type of game the Miami Heat had been waiting for.
A grind. Able to load up defensively against specific players. A double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter.
But this season, apparently nothing will come easy. It didn’t Monday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Surviving some shaky foul shooting and the power play of Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin while playing in the injury absence of Hassan Whiteside, the Heat survived the Detroit Pistons 120-115 in overtime, snapping their three-game losing streak.
With Goran Dragic back from a onegame injury absence and scoring 21, the Heat achieved collectively what Drummond and Griffin could not for Detroit.
Evan Fournier buzzer beater lifts Magic to win over Cavs
ORLANDO, Fla. — Evan Fournier’s buzzer-beater over Kyle Korver saved the Orlando Magic from the meltdown they were trying to avoid Monday night. The Magic escaped with a 102100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, giving Orlando its second consecutive victory.
The Magic (4-6) barely avoided a major second-half crash and survived mostly thanks to their defense.
With the game tied, Nikola Vucevic blocked a George Hill shot with less than three seconds left and Aaron Gordon then deflected the ball off Hill and out of bounds, giving the Magic the ball with 1.3 seconds remaining.