Curry’s 36 leads Warriors past Heat, 123-114
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) shoots a 3-point basket as Miami Heat’s Norris Cole, right, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, in Miami. AP
MIAMI — Stephen Curry scored 36 points and handed out 12 assists and David Lee scored 32 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat 123-114 Thursday and extended the NBA’s longest current winning streak to seven games.
Curry was 13 for 22 from the field and 8 for 15 from beyond the arc for Golden State. Lee added 14 rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 16 points and Harrison Barnes had 15 for the Warriors.
LeBron James scored 26 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 for the Heat, which had all five starters in double figures. But the Heat allowed Golden State to shoot 56 percent, make 15 of 29 tries from 3-point range, and finish with a 40-31 rebounding edge.
Elsewhere, New York’s two struggling teams surprised a pair of power Western Conference clubs on the road.
The New York Knicks, with Carmelo Anthony back in the lineup after sitting out three games with an ankle injury, beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-101, while the Brooklyn Nets defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-93.
Iman Shumpert scored a career-high 27 points, including the tiebreaking tip-in with 23.4 seconds left, and Anthony had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Knicks, who ended a three-game losing streak.
The Knicks’ slide coincided with Anthony’s injury, but the All-Star forward looked refreshed in revitalizing the team’s struggling offense.
Italian star Marco Belinelli had a career-high 32 points for the Spurs, but missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute.
The Nets, meanwhile, came back from a 16-point second-half deficit to edge the Thunder on Joe Johnson’s high-arching jumper as time expired.
Deron Williams had a season-high 29 points, including 18 in the second half, and Paul Pierce scored 18 for the Nets.
Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 24 points. The loss was the second straight for the Thunder, only the second time they’ve lost two in a row this season.
In other games, the Portland Trail Blazers matched a club record by sinking 21 3-pointers, shooting 63.6 percent from behind the arc, in a 134-104 rout of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Wesley Matthews scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, and Damian Lillard had 24, going 6-for-6 from 3-point range, for the Western Conference-leading Blazers.
The Bobcats have lost a season-high five in a row.
Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao hit two crucial jumpers in overtime and tied a franchise record with a career-high 25 rebounds as the Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 87-85 to end a season-high six-game losing streak.
The Cavaliers were playing without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who missed his first game this season because of a bruised left knee.
Chicago’s Joakim Noah had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Bulls past the Boston Celtics 94-82.
The Bulls, who had six players in double figures, had dropped six of their last seven home games.
The Memphis Grizzlies overcame a career-high 33 points from Slovenian Goran Dragic to defeat the Phoenix Suns 99-91 on the road.
Zach Randolph had 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies, and Jarryd Bayless added 17, including 13 in the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia’s Thaddeus Young had 28 points and Evan Turner added 24 as the 76ers defeated the Sacramento Kings 113-104 for their third straight victory.
And the Utah Jazz held off the Milwaukee Bucks 96-87 in a matchup of teams with the worst records in each conference. Gordon Hayward scored 22 points to pace the Jazz.
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