Curry’s just too hot
Golden State star shines in win over Grizzlies
Los Angeles, Dec. 24: Stephen Curry scored 46 points to propel Golden State to a hard-fought 113104 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday that kept the Warriors a half-game behind Phoenix Suns for best record in the NBA.
The Suns, led by 30 points from Devin Booker, meanwhile warmed up for a Christmas Day marquee clash against Golden State with a 113-101 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder in Phoenix.
Trailing by three at halftime, Phoenix out-scored the Thunder 37-21 in the third period to take control, pushing their lead to as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Back in San Francisco, Curry drained eight threepointers and Gary Payton Jr. added four from beyond the arc on the way to 22 points for the Warriors, who thwarted a late Grizzlies rally.
Ja Morant scored 21 points for Memphis, who tied the score at 102-102 with 2:03 remaining.
Golden State responded with a basket from Juan Tosco-Anderson. Payton made a three-pointer and Curry drove for a layup as the Warriors pulled away again.
“Vintage Steph,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry’s fifth 40point game of the season. “That’s about as good as it gets against a very physical defense with great size. For him to get 46, he showed every bit of his talent and will tonight,” he added.
The San Antonio Spurs used a three-point barrage to withstand a 36-point performance from LeBron James in a convincing 138110 victory over the Lakers
in Los Angeles. “They’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league over the last 10 games, they’ve been playing exceptional basketball. Every mistake that we had, every breakdown we had, they made us pay,” James said of the Spurs.
Drew Eubanks scored 30 points off the bench, Derrick White added 23 and the Spurs drained 18 threepointers in the victory.
In other games Thursday — the last day of action before the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day slate — Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 10 of his 15 points in the final four minutes as the
short-handed Atlanta Hawks held off the Philadelphia 76ers 98-96.
The Hawks were without seven players because of
Covid-19 concerns but they still managed to pull off the upset in Philadelphia, where Sixers star Joel Embiid missed a potential tying shot as time expired.
Cam Reddish scored 18 points and John Collins had
17 for the Hawks, whose seven Covid absentees included star Trae Young.
The Sixers also had their absentees — four of them because of Covid — fielding their 17th different starting lineup of the season.
In another game, the Washington Wizards beat New York Knicks comfortably at 124-117.