Warriors rebound from rare home loss with win over Portland
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, right, drives the ball past Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard. AP
OAKLAND, California — Stephen Curry scored 39 points and the Golden State Warriors bounced back from their first regular-season home loss in more than 14 months by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 136-111 on Sunday (Monday Manila time) to tie the mark for the second-most wins in a season.
Draymond Green added 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his 13th triple-double of the season, and Klay Thompson scored 21 for the Warriors, who matched the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls and 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers with 69 wins.
Golden State needs to win four of its final five games to break the record of 72 victories set by Chicago in 1995-96.
That chase was dealt a setback Friday when Boston ended Golden State’s record 54-game regular-season home winning streak.
Damian Lillard scored 38 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who had their four-game winning streak broken.
In Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 27 points and 12 rebounds and Blake Griffin scored six points in his return from a three-month absence to help the Clippers beat Washington 114-109.
Griffin shot 2 of 7 and contributed five rebounds and two assists while playing 24 minutes after missing 45 games because of quadriceps and hand injuries. The team went 30-15 and clinched a playoff spot during his absence.
Cleveland’s LeBron James scored 31 points and J.R. Smith matched a season high with 27 as the Cavaliers knocked down 16 3-pointers while playing without an injured Kyrie Irving in a 112-103 win over Charlotte.
James added 12 assists and eight rebounds and Kevin Love added 25 points for the Cavs, who held off a comeback in the fourth quarter to open a 3½-game lead over idle Toronto for the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
In Houston, James Harden had 41 points with nine assists to help the Rockets improve their playoff chances with a win over Oklahoma City 118-110.
With 30 seconds left, Harden stole a pass from Kevin Durant and found Patrick Beverley for a transition dunk to give Houston an eight-point lead and the Rockets held on for an important victory.
Durant had 33 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who had won nine of their previous 10 games.
Houston remains a game behind Dallas and Utah for one of the two final playoff spots in the Western Conference.
Dallas, meanwhile, got 19 points from Wesley Matthews, including six 3-pointers, to top Minnesota 88-78.
J.J. Barea added 21 points for the Mavericks, who made just 14 of 40 3-pointers but forced 18 turnovers in their fourth straight victory.
Utah also stayed on pace for the last playoff spot in the West with a 101-86 win over Phoenix.
Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and Rodney Hood added 18 points for the Jazz, who scored 26 points off 22 Suns turnovers and committed only 10 turnovers themselves.
Memphis’ playoff positioning took another blow with a 119-107 loss to Orlando. The struggling Grizzlies lost their sixth straight game, their longest skid since November 2009.
Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points off the bench and Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier added 22 points each for Orlando. Memphis was led by Matt Barnes, who had 24 points.
Memphis has a half-game lead over Portland for the fifth playoff seed in the Western Conference.
Boston clinched a playoff spot with a 107-100 win over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Isaiah Thomas scored 26 points and Jae Crowder added 22 points for the Celtics, who blew an early 17-point lead and survived a tense fourth quarter.
Bryant scored 34 points in his final showdown with the Lakers’ historic rival, putting up the second highest-scoring performance of his farewell season.
Chicago’s Jimmy Butler scored 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting and Pau Gasol had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Bulls beat Milwaukee 102-98 to stay in contention for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Butler had six points and an assist in the final 3:45, when the Bucks had narrowed a 19-point deficit to one at 87-86.
Chicago is two games behind Detroit and Indiana for one of the last two playoff spots in the East.
In New York, Paul George returned from an injured ankle to make the tiebreaking jumper with 23.6 seconds left as the Pacers beat the New York Knicks 92-87.
Across town, Tim Frazier had career highs with 19 points and 13 assists as New Orleans beat Brooklyn 106-87.
