Curry, Warriors fire away, beat Kings in 3-point match
LOS ANGELES – Stephen Curry connected on 10 3-pointers as part of a 42-point performance Saturday night, helping the Golden State Warriors outlast the host Sacramento Kings 127-123 in a game that featured the most combined 3-pointers in NBA history.
The Warriors went 21-for-47 from beyond the arc while the Kings made a franchise-record 20 in 36 attempts.
The 41 3-pointers were one more than the previous record of 40 set in a game last season between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Curry scored 20 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter, none bigger than a three-point play off a Draymond Green assist that put Golden State ahead for good at 123-121 with 2:03 to go.
Green also made a key defensive play two possessions later, stealing a De’Aaron Fox pass and lobbing to Andre Iguodala for an alley-oop dunk that made it a four-point game with 56.8 seconds remaining.
Curry capped his big night with two clinching free throws with 9.4 seconds left.
Curry finished 14-for-26 from the field and 10-for-20 on 3-pointers as the Warriors, in winning their third straight on the road, successfully rebounded from an overtime loss at home to Houston two nights earlier.
Kevin Durant backed Curry with 29 points and nine assists, while Klay Thompson added 20 points, Green 12 to go with seven rebounds and seven assists, and Quinn Cook with 10 points.
Golden State shot 50.5 percent for the game and won at Sacramento for the fourth straight time.
Buddy Hield buried a careerhigh eight 3-pointers in 13 attempts to account for most of his scoring on a 32-point night for the Kings, who have lost three straight to Golden State this season by one, five and four points.
Justin Jackson also established a career-high for 3-pointers with five during a 28-point game for Sacramento, which lost its fourth in a row.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 17 points, Willie Cauley-Stein 14 to complement a game-high 13 rebounds, and Nemanja Bjelica 12 points for the Kings, who shot 47.4% overall.
NURKIC, MCCOLLUM LEAD BLAZERS PAST ROCKETS
Jusuf Nurkic scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers knocked off the visiting Houston Rockets 110-101 Saturday night.
CJ McCollum scored 24 points and Damian Lillard contributed 17 points and 12 assists for the Trail Blazers, who ended the Rockets’ six-game win streak.
Houston’s James Harden scored 38 points, ending his string of five straight 40-point performances. Harden, who missed a layup in the closing seconds, was 13 for 35 from the field, including 5 for 17 from 3-point range.
Austin Rivers scored 21 points and Clint Capela added 13 points and 21 rebounds for the Rockets, who lost for only the third time in the last 11 meetings with the Blazers.
Nurkic had 13 points and seven rebounds as Portland seized a 5946 lead at the half. Rivers scored 17 points for Houston. Harden had nine points on 3-for-15 shooting, including 0 for 8 from 3-point range.
Portland extended its edge to 79-64 in the third quarter. Houston closed to within 83-75 on a three-point play by Harden late in the quarter.
Lillard answered with a threepoint play of his own, and Harden sank a bank shot as time expired and the Blazers took an 86-77 advantage into the final period.
Houston cut the difference to 88-83 on a dunk by Gerald Green with nine minutes left, but McCollum hit a 3-pointer and Nurkic scored on a tip-in to make it 93-83. —