Thompson leads rout for Golden State
OKLAHOMA CITY — Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors didn’t have Kevin Durant for Monday night’s game at Oklahoma City.
With or without Durant, there’s animosity to go around in this hot-blooded rivalry.
Klay Thompson scored 34 points to help the Warriors beat the Thunder 111-95 in a heated matchup filled with trash talk, technical fouls and a shoving match centered around the usually cool-headed Curry.
It was Golden State’s second visit to Oklahoma City since Durant spurned his longtime employer to sign a free agent contract with the Warriors last summer. Durant has been out since February with a left knee injury and sat on the bench with his team.
Even with Durant out, the negative energy from the first meeting was still there. Curry exchanged shoves with Semaj Christon just before halftime, and both were issued technical fouls. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Golden State’s Draymond Green also got technicals for their roles in the skirmish.
“Your normal jump ball, fight for position situation,” Curry said. “I was just trying to get in between Russ and — trying to get in between those two. I felt him push me. I kind of let that first one go, and then I kept going, and there was another little push, and I tried to hold my position.”
The game itself was a knockout. The Warriors led by as many as 27 points while completing a sweep of the four-game season series.
■ Rockets 125, Nuggets 124 — At NBA Houston, James Harden drove the length of the floor for a layup with 2.4 seconds left to help Houston outlast Denver in a duel between the second- and third-highest scoring teams in the NBA.
■ Celtics 110, Wizards 102 — At Boston, Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points after missing the previous two games with a bruised right knee, leading the Boston past Washington in another testy matchup between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
■ Hornets 105, Hawks 90 — At Charlotte, N.C., Nicolas Batum and Kemba Walker each had 16 points and Charlotte handed slumping Atlanta its fourth straight loss. The Hornets scored 17 points off 18 turnovers and led by as many as 23 in the fourth quarter.
■ Magic 112, 76ers 109, OT — At Orlando, Fla., Nikola Vucevic had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 19 points and Orlando won two games in a row for the first time since December. Aaron Gordon added 17 points for the Magic.
■ Clippers 114, Knicks 105 — At Los Angeles, Blake Griffin scored 30 points in 30 minutes, Chris Paul had 13 points and 13 assists and Los Angeles handed New York its fifth loss in six games. DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers.
■ Pacers 107, Jazz 100 — At Indianapolis, Jeff Teague scored 21 points, Paul George added 19 and Indiana continued its trend of following a loss with a win — failing to do either in consecutive games since Feb. 16.