Warriors match NBA home win record
Golden State rout Oklahoma City, match Chicago feat of 44 straight home wins
>> LOS ANGELES: Stephen Curry tallied a game high 33 points as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 on Thursday to tie the NBA record for consecutive home wins.
The Warriors’ second win over the Thunder in six days was their 44th straight at Oracle Arena as they equalled the record set by the Chicago Bulls from March 1995 to April 1996.
“This is special. We have been dominant here at home,” said Curry after the match.
The win also capped a three-game, season-series sweep for the Warriors over the Thunder. That streak includes a 121-118 Warriors’ overtime victory at Oklahoma City on Saturday.
In similar fashion, the Thunder held another fourth-quarter lead before Golden State, who have recorded the best record in NBA history through 59 games, came from behind.
Curry drained five of 15 shots from beyond the arc as almost half of his points came from three pointers.
“I was a little rusty,” he said. “I didn’t shoot particularly well but my teammates told me on the bench to keep shooting.”
The Warriors have now won seven in a row. They trailed by as many as nine in the third quarter and were down 83-82 entering the final period. They took the lead for good on backup guard Shaun Livingston’s two free throws in the first minute of the final quarter.
“Our second unit got us off to a fourth quarter lead and they turned the momentum i n our f avour,” Curry said.
Forward Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 30 points and forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 26 while orchestrating a 16-2 closing run as the San Antonio Spurs rallied to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 94-86.
The Spurs’ run reached 13-2 when Aldridge hit a go-ahead, 17-foot jumper, and guard Patty Mills nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key, giving San Antonio a 91-86 lead with 81 seconds left.
Leonard closed out the burst with a three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining as the Spurs improved to 52-9.
The Pelicans blew their third consecutive fourth-quarter lead. Guard Eric Gordon led the offence with 23 points, and forward Anthony Davis finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
In Dallas, DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo each recorded doubledoubles and the Sacramento Kings won for the first time in Dallas in more than 13 years with a 104-101 victory at American Airlines Center.
Cousins, who had 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, was 13 years old the last time the Kings won in Dallas back on February 2003.
In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Goran Dragic added 25 against his former team and Heat never trailed on the way to beating Phoenix Suns 108-92 for their third straight victory.