Stephen Curry (right) of Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka go for a rebound in their NBA match at the Oracle Arena in Oakland (USA), on Thursday. The Warriors won 121-106. — AFP
Stephen Curry (right) of Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka go for a rebound in their NBA match at the Oracle Arena in Oakland (USA), on Thursday. The Warriors won 121-106. — AFP
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.
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 in our favour,” 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.
