CURRY TORCHES CELTICS FOR 49 PTS
Curry scores 13 points in final 1:42, finishes with 8 3-pointers
Stephen Curry scored 49 points with 13 of those over the final 1:42 and hit eight 3-pointers, lifting the Golden State Warriors past the Boston Celtics 109-105 on Saturday night in what is already being hyped as a potential NBA Finals matchup come June.
Curry made a go-ahead 3 with 1:42 to play, scored on a driving layup the next time down before eight late free throws. He also made three of his 3s over the final 4:20 of the third quarter for the Warriors, who had lost the last two matchups to the Celtics and two in a row at home. The Warriors fell 92-88 at Boston on Nov. 16 in which they squandered a 17-point lead.
Kyrie Irving scored 37 points on 13-for-18 shooting with five 3s, but Boston failed to build momentum from a win at the Clippers on Wednesday night, losing for the fifth time in six games.
Kevin Durant added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, who haven’t lost to the same Eastern Conference opponent twice in the same season during fourth-year coach Steve Kerr’s tenure. Draymond Green had 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
THUNDER 121, PISTONS 108
In Detroit, Carmelo Anthony surpassed the 25,000-point milestone and Russell Westbrook added 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds to lift surging Oklahoma City past Detroit.
Thunder guard Andre Roberson was taken off on a stretcher in the third quarter after landing hard on the court after trying to jump for an alley-oop. The scary injury put a damper on Oklahoma City’s seventh straight victory. It’s the NBA’s longest current winning streak.
Detroit has lost seven in a row, the league’s longest current skid. The Pistons now face backto-back games against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
Anthony scored his 25,000th point on a free throw with 8:30 left in the third quarter. That was part of a 15-0 run for the Thunder at the start of the second half that pushed their lead to 27.
In Minneapolis, Jimmy Butler scored 21 points in his return to Minnesota’s, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and 19 rebounds for his NBA-leading 43rd double-double.
Butler added six rebounds and five assists after missing four games with right knee soreness. Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points, and Jamal Crawford added 16 to help Minnesota snap a two-game skid.
Jahlil Okafor scored 21 points, and Nick Stauskas added 15 for a short-handed Brooklyn squad that has lost six of eight games. Nets coach Kenny Atkinson was ejected in the fourth quarter after coming out on the court to argue a call. Players and coaches had to restrain the enraged Atkinson. /