Poole pours in 32 to lead Curry-less Warriors over Pistons
Warriors 105, Pistons 102: Jordan Poole stepped up in Stephen Curry’s absence to score 22 of his season-high 32 points in the first half, Andrew Wiggins finished with 27 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Detroit Pistons 105-102 on Friday night.
Golden State started the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead and held on to win after Detroit’s Jerami Grant and Frank Jackson missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds.
The NBA-leading Warriors sat out Curry with a bruised hip, a night after the two-time MVP and the league’s leading scorer had 20 of his 40 points in a fourthquarter comeback victory at Cleveland. They were also without Draymond Green because of a bruised thigh after he had 14 assists in 29 minutes against the Cavaliers.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick, had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Jackson scored a seasonhigh 27 points, Grant had 19 and Hamidou Diallo added 10.
Gary Payton II started in place of Curry and scored 12 points. Nemanja Bjelica had 15.
Hornets 121, Pacers 118: LaMelo Ball had a season-high 32 points along with 11 rebounds and eight assists and host Charlotte held off Indiana for its fifth straight victory.
Gordon Hayward added 25 points, and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 16 to finish off a 4-0 homestand that included wins over Golden State and Washington.
Jeremy Lamb had 23 points for Indiana, and Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points. The Pacers lost all three of their games on a trip to fall to 2-9 overall.
Unlike the season opener when the Hornets needed a 24-0 run to erase a 21point third quarter and beat the Pacers 123-122, Charlotte jumped out to a 25point, third- quarter lead.
When the deficit reached 25, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle benched many of his starters for the remainder of the game with his team playing on the first night of a back-to-back.
But Indiana’s reserves would rally to cut the lead to three on a 3-pointer by Lamb as the Hornets got sloppy with the ball. Charlotte had just one turnover in the first half, but committed 16 in the second half.
Ball turned the ball over on a full-court baseball pass over the head of Miles Bridges with 16.2 seconds left, giving the Pacers a chance to send the game into overtime.
But Indiana couldn’t get a 3-point attempt off at the buzzer and time expired.
Celtics 130, Lakers 108: Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and host Boston beat Los Angeles in LeBron James’ return to the Lakers’ lineup.
Marcus Smart had 22 points and Dennis Schroder 21 for Boston (8-8), which climbed back to .500. Tatum had 11 rebounds and Al Horford added 18 points.
Anthony Davis led Los Angeles with 31 points and James finished with 23 in 32 minutes. They each had six rebounds and two assists.
James had missed eight games with an abdominal strain, and the Lakers went 3-5 while he was sidelined. They’ve lost their last four road games.
The Celtics led by 11 points entering the final quarter and opened a 109-94 lead on Tatum’s three-point play with 6:59 remaining. His 3-pointer from the left corner increased it to 116-99 with 5:02 to go.
The Lakers made nine of their initial 12 shots en route to a 38-30 lead after one quarter.
James’ first basket came on a thundering dunk off a drive down the lane 2 ½ minutes into the game.
Boston erased a 14-point deficit in the second quarter and took the lead before James’ fast-break layup gave the Lakers a 61-60 halftime edge.
The Celtics opened the second half with a 14-4 surge and led 93-82 entering the fourth.
Pelicans 94, Clippers 81: Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 13 rebounds and host New Orleans overcame a 20point first-half deficit to beat Los Angeles. After challenging the Pelicans to “grow up” after they’d blown double-digit leads at Washington and Miami earlier this week, Josh Hart had 19 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Brandon Ingram had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Kira Lewis Jr. added 16 points to help New Orleans win for just the third time in 17 games this season.
Los Angeles star Paul George scored 19 points but missed five of six shots in the fourth quarter as the Pelicans pulled away.