MIAMI: ‘The Golden State Warriors shrugged off an early start to pummel the Orlando Magic 118-98 and seal their seventh consecutive victory on Sunday.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors’ scoring with 27 points, draining seven of 13 three-point attempts as the Dubs improved to 38-6.
The victory leaves the Warriors on pace to become the first team in history to win 65 games or more for three NBA seasons in a row.
Curry later admitted the Warriors had struggled to get into their usual rhythm after the 12:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) start.
“It was an early start, and a challenge mentally, but it shouldn’t matter what time of day it is,” Curry said. “We want to win whenever we play. We showed how much winning means to this team.”
The Warriors conceded eight turnovers in the opening six minutes as the early start took hold.
Curry poured on 16 points of his final tally during a third quarter surge that saw Golden State race into an 18-point lead.
“It was weird,” Curry said. “We struggled early, but we left our mark in the third quarter. That’s when we were at our best.”
Klay Thompson scored 21 points while Kevin Durant weighed in with 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Draymond Green had a low-scoring game with six points but pulled down 10 rebounds.
“I needed a wakeup call today,” Green said. “It’s difficult to play this early. You could tell by the way we played at the start. But that’s the NBA, and we figured it out and got it done.”
The Warriors win was their 20th consecutive victory in which they had scored 100 points or more and extended their record of dominance over Eastern Conference teams to 14-1 this season.
Eldrid Payton led the scoring for the Magic with 23 points and 10 assists, while Bismack Biyombo (12), Nikola Vucevic and Jeff Green (12 each) also made double figures.
Orlando forward Jeff Green said the Magic had been powerless to respond during the decisive third period when the Warriors pulled clear.
“There’s not much you can do when they (Warriors) get it going like that,” Green said. “That’s why they are who they are, and get the acclaim that they do. It gets tough for any opponent playing against them.”
“There’s just no margin for error against them,” Magic coach Frank Vogel added. “The way you punch back against them is by making shots yourself. We missed too many today.”
MAVERICKS 122, LAKERS 73: Justin Anderson scored 19 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 13 to help Dallas give Los Angeles its worst defeat ever.
It was the Mavericks’ 13th straight win over the Lakers, who have lost six of their last seven games this season.
The 49-point defeat just edged Los Angeles’ two previous worst losses at 48 points, most recently 123-75 at Utah on March 28, 2016.
The game was close for 10 minutes, with Dallas leading 23-22 before the Mavericks scored the next 15 straight to blow the game open. Nowitzki had seven during the run.
The Mavericks led 67-33 at the half and never looked back.
TIMBERWOLVES 111, NUGGETS 108: Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and hit the go-ahead shot with 42.5 seconds to play to lead Minnesota over Denver.
Towns hit 13 of 19 shots and also had four blocks and Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points in Minnesota’s fourth straight home win. Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 points off the bench and the Wolves rallied from nine points down midway through the fourth quarter for the win.
Gary Harris scored 22 points and Nikola Jokic had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back. Wilson Chandler and Jamal Murray added 17 points each for Denver, which played without Emmanuel Mudiay because of a sore back.
Kris Dunn had 10 points and nine assists for the Wolves while starting for Ricky Rubio, who missed the game to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
SUNS 115, RAPTORS 103: Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 40 points and had 13 assists and Phoenix handed Toronto its third straight loss.
Bledsoe was 11 of 17 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and Devin Booker added 20 points as the Suns won their second straight road game following Saturday’s win at New York. The victory also completed a season sweep of the Raptors for the first time since 2013-14 and improved Phoenix to 11-6 against Eastern Conference teams this season.
DeMar DeRozan had 22 points for Toronto and Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season. It’s the first time the Raptors have lost three straight since Nov. 6-10, 2015.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors’ scoring with 27 points, draining seven of 13 three-point attempts as the Dubs improved to 38-6.
The victory leaves the Warriors on pace to become the first team in history to win 65 games or more for three NBA seasons in a row.
Curry later admitted the Warriors had struggled to get into their usual rhythm after the 12:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) start.
“It was an early start, and a challenge mentally, but it shouldn’t matter what time of day it is,” Curry said. “We want to win whenever we play. We showed how much winning means to this team.”
The Warriors conceded eight turnovers in the opening six minutes as the early start took hold.
Curry poured on 16 points of his final tally during a third quarter surge that saw Golden State race into an 18-point lead.
“It was weird,” Curry said. “We struggled early, but we left our mark in the third quarter. That’s when we were at our best.”
Klay Thompson scored 21 points while Kevin Durant weighed in with 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Draymond Green had a low-scoring game with six points but pulled down 10 rebounds.
“I needed a wakeup call today,” Green said. “It’s difficult to play this early. You could tell by the way we played at the start. But that’s the NBA, and we figured it out and got it done.”
The Warriors win was their 20th consecutive victory in which they had scored 100 points or more and extended their record of dominance over Eastern Conference teams to 14-1 this season.
Eldrid Payton led the scoring for the Magic with 23 points and 10 assists, while Bismack Biyombo (12), Nikola Vucevic and Jeff Green (12 each) also made double figures.
Orlando forward Jeff Green said the Magic had been powerless to respond during the decisive third period when the Warriors pulled clear.
“There’s not much you can do when they (Warriors) get it going like that,” Green said. “That’s why they are who they are, and get the acclaim that they do. It gets tough for any opponent playing against them.”
“There’s just no margin for error against them,” Magic coach Frank Vogel added. “The way you punch back against them is by making shots yourself. We missed too many today.”
MAVERICKS 122, LAKERS 73: Justin Anderson scored 19 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 13 to help Dallas give Los Angeles its worst defeat ever.
It was the Mavericks’ 13th straight win over the Lakers, who have lost six of their last seven games this season.
The 49-point defeat just edged Los Angeles’ two previous worst losses at 48 points, most recently 123-75 at Utah on March 28, 2016.
The game was close for 10 minutes, with Dallas leading 23-22 before the Mavericks scored the next 15 straight to blow the game open. Nowitzki had seven during the run.
The Mavericks led 67-33 at the half and never looked back.
TIMBERWOLVES 111, NUGGETS 108: Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and hit the go-ahead shot with 42.5 seconds to play to lead Minnesota over Denver.
Towns hit 13 of 19 shots and also had four blocks and Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points in Minnesota’s fourth straight home win. Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 points off the bench and the Wolves rallied from nine points down midway through the fourth quarter for the win.
Gary Harris scored 22 points and Nikola Jokic had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back. Wilson Chandler and Jamal Murray added 17 points each for Denver, which played without Emmanuel Mudiay because of a sore back.
Kris Dunn had 10 points and nine assists for the Wolves while starting for Ricky Rubio, who missed the game to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
SUNS 115, RAPTORS 103: Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 40 points and had 13 assists and Phoenix handed Toronto its third straight loss.
Bledsoe was 11 of 17 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and Devin Booker added 20 points as the Suns won their second straight road game following Saturday’s win at New York. The victory also completed a season sweep of the Raptors for the first time since 2013-14 and improved Phoenix to 11-6 against Eastern Conference teams this season.
DeMar DeRozan had 22 points for Toronto and Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season. It’s the first time the Raptors have lost three straight since Nov. 6-10, 2015.
