Golden State Warriors rout Hornets, clinch 5th straight Pacific title

OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry scored 25 points with five 3-pointers and the Golden State Warriors beat Charlotte 137-90 on Sunday night to clinch their fifth straight Pacific Division title and hand the Hornets their worst loss of the season.

Curry has made five or more 3s in a career-best eight straight games. He has 335 so far, his second-most in a season behind the NBA-record 402 he hit in 2015-16.

Klay Thompson scored Golden State’s initial nine points and finished with 24 and six 3s. Curry and Thompson combined to shoot 11 for 17 from deep and 17 of 30 overall. Quinn Cook added 21 points off the bench.

Willy Hernangomez scored 22 points — 14 on free throws — for the Hornets.

Charlotte leading scorer and All-Star Kemba Walker was held to nine points for his third game of the season not reaching double figures.

MAVERICKS 106, THUNDER 103

Trey Burke had 25 points and eight assists, Dwight Powell scored the winning basket on a dunk with 21 seconds left and Dallas, playing without star rookie Luka Doncic, stunned Oklahoma City.

Jalen Brunson had 18 points, Devin Harris added 15 and Dirk Nowitzki — playing perhaps his final game in Oklahoma City — grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to go with seven points for the Mavericks.

Russell Westbrook had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his 30th triple-double of the season and Paul George had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who had sealed a Western Conference playoff spot Saturday when the Sacramento Kings lost.

HAWKS 136, BUCKS 135, OT

Trae Young grabbed a deflected inbounds pass and made a last-second jumper to lift Atlanta over short-handed Milwaukee.

Justin Anderson had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Atlanta, and John Collins finished with 23 points and 12 boards. Alex Len also scored 23 points. Young finished with 12 points and 16 assists.

Sterling Brown scored 27 points for Milwaukee, including a go-ahead layup with 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime.

The Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Antetokounmpo, one of the favorites for the NBA MVP award, was held out due to right ankle sprain. Middleton has a sore groin.

LAKERS 130, PELICANS 102

Alex Caruso scored a career-high 23 points in his 20th NBA game of the season, and Los Angeles beat New Orleans.

JaVale McGee had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and former Pelican Rajon Rondo added 24 points and 12 assists for Los Angeles in a game missing both teams’ biggest stars: the Lakers’ LeBron James and the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis.

Former Laker Julius Randle scored 17 points for New Orleans in 23 minutes before leaving to have an X-ray on his left index finger, which the team said came back negative.

Christian Wood, acquired recently by New Orleans after Milwaukee placed him on waivers, had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 and Reggie Bullock 18 for the Lakers, who have won four of five as they try to build toward next season.

WIZARDS 95, NUGGETS 90

Tony Brown Jr. scored 24 points, Thomas Bryant and Jabari Parker each had 20, and Washington held Denver to just 28 points in the second half.

Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, which lost for the third time in five games and saw its lead in the Northwest Division over Portland cut to three games.

The loss came at price for Denver. Starting point guard Jamal Murray left the game in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle and didn’t return. Murray missed six games from Jan. 26-Feb. 4 with a left ankle sprain.

KINGS 113, SPURS 106

Buddy Hield scored 26 points and Sacramento snapped an 11-game skid in San Antonio.

Willie Cauley-Stein added 17 points and all of Sacramento’s starters scored in double figures. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 15 points off the bench.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 17 rebounds as San Antonio lost for the fourth time in six games. DeMar DeRozan finished with 16 points and Rudy Gay had 18. The Spurs remained seventh in the Western Conference.

CLIPPERS 113, GRIZZLIES 96

Danilo Gallinari had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and Los Angeles routed Memphis for its league-leading 13th win in 15 games.

The Clippers closed March with the NBA’s best record at 13-2, tying the highest winning percentage in the month in team history set in 2014.

Montrezl Harrell added 20 points, making 10 of 11 free throws, and Lou Williams had 17 points for the Clippers.

The injury-riddled Grizzlies lost Jonas Valanciunas with 6:16 left in the third quarter. He appeared to hurt his right leg going for a rebound. Valanciunas finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Delon Wright led Memphis with 20 points and Chandler Parsons added 17. /gsg