Curry makes 3,000th 3-pointer; LA Lakers ‘snap’ five-game skid

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 29, (AP): Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to make 3,000 career 3-pointers on Tuesday night in a game where the Denver Nuggets barely held off the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors 8986.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic blocked a potential game-tying shot by Jonathan Kuminga in the final seconds to preserve the win after his team nearly blew a 24-point halftime lead. The Warriors got one more chance to tie the game, but Andre Iguodala missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Barton had 21 points, while Jokic led Denver with 22 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and eight rebounds for Golden State in his first game back from the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Curry, who scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half, made a corner 3-pointer late in the third quarter to give him 157 consecutive games with a 3-point field goal. It ties his own NBA record, which he set from 2014-16.

Lakers 132, Rockets 123

In Houston, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook both had tripledoubles and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a season-high, five-game skid with a 132-123 victory over the Houston Rockets .

James had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his third tripledouble this season, and it was his fifth consecutive 30-point game. Westbrook scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his seventh of the season.

Houston stuck around for most of the night, but James took over late to allow the Lakers to pull away and hand the Rockets their fifth consecutive loss.

Bucks 127, Magic 110

In Orlando, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, Bobby Portis scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Orlando Magic 127-110 .

Milwaukee has won four in a row and five of its last seven. Since starting the season 6-8, the Bucks have gone 17-5 to surge back near the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Khris Middleton scored 21 points for the Bucks, while Jrue Holiday chipped in 18 points and 10 assists. Antetokounmpo, who returned from COVID-19 protocols on Christmas, capped his 24th 20-point night in the fourth quarter by chucking Orlando’s Freddie Gillespie to the floor with a forearm before dunking with his left hand.

76ers 114, Raptors 109

In Toronto, Tobias Harris had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists for his first career triple-double, Joel Embiid finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers hung on to beat the Toronto Raptors 114-109 .

Georges Niang scored 19 points,

Seth Curry had 12 and Furkan Korkmaz 10 as the 76ers won their second straight.

Chris Boucher scored a seasonhigh 28 points and matched his career high with 19 rebounds, but the depleted Raptors lost their second straight.

Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and Malachi Flynn returned for Toronto after being among the 10 players to

miss Sunday’s 144-99 loss at Cleveland because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Isaac Bonga, and Justin Champagnie remain in the protocols.

Kings 117, Thunder 111

In Sacramento, Tyrese Haliburton had 24 points and 10 assists, and the Sacramento Kings held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-111 .