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 night 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, for the Warriors, who matched the 1996-97 Bulls and 1971-72 Lakers with 69 wins. Boston snapped Golden State’s record 54-game regular-season home winning streak on Friday.
But after falling behind by 11 points early, the Warriors found their groove and improved to 8-0 following losses this season. No team has ever gone an entire season without losing back-to-back games.
Damian Lillard scored 38 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Portland remained a half-game behind fifth-place Memphis in the Western Conference standings.
The game featured an old-fashioned duel between two of the league’s best scorers in Curry and Lillard. During one stretch of 2:17 in the third quarter, Curry scored on five straight trips down the floor, making four of his nine 3-pointers in the span. Not to be outdone, Lillard also scored five baskets during the run, including a pair of 3-pointers.
But Curry had much more help from his teammates with Green scoring 11 points in the quarter and Leandro Barbosa hitting two late shots to give Golden State a 101-89 lead after three. Portland never threatened in the fourth.
The Blazers hit 14 of their first 19 shots to build an 11-point lead in the first quarter before the Warriors battled back. Curry hit a 3-pointer late in the second quarter to make the Golden State with 1,000 made 3s in a season. The Warriors led, 63-56, at the break.
Clippers 114, Wizards 109 — Chris Paul had 27 points and 12 rebounds and Blake Griffin scored 6 points in his return from a three-month absence to help host Los Angeles beat Washington.
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.
The Clippers were clearly glad to have their star power forward back, gleefully pouncing on him during introductions, when DeAndre Jordan playfully pounded on him. Griffin’s minutes are expected to be managed carefully while he works to regain his conditioning ahead of the playoffs.
Griffin hadn’t played since Christmas Day, when he partially tore a left quadriceps tendon. He was averaging 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists at the time. He broke his right shooting hand in January after punching the team’s assistant equipment manager and recently served a four-game suspension for that.
J.J. Redick added 18 points and Jordan had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers.
Marcin Gortat scored 21 points and Markieff Morris added 18 for the Wizards.
John Wall scored 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Bradley Beal had 8 points after missing 14 of 16 shots.
Cavaliers 112, Hornets 103 — LeBron James scored 31 points, J.R. Smith added 27, and host Cleveland edged 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. Smith made six 3-pointers and Love had five.
Cleveland has five games left in the regular season, including four against teams fighting for postseason positioning.
Pacers 92, Knicks 87 — Paul George returned from an injured ankle to make the tiebreaking jumper with 23.6 seconds left as visiting Indiana beat New York.
The Pacers blew an 18-point lead in the second half against a Knicks team missing its two best scorers, but recovered to join Detroit at 41-36 and stay two games ahead of ninth-place Chicago. George finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, returning to the game midway through the fourth quarter after the Pacers had said he was questionable to play further because of a sore left ankle.
Sasha Vujacic scored 21 points for the Knicks, who rested Carmelo Anthony and had fellow starters Kristaps Porzingis and Jose Calderon already out with injuries. Arron Afflalo added 15 points.
Rockets 118, Thunder 110 — James Harden had 41 points with nine assists to help host Houston get past Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant had 33 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who lost for just the second time in the past three weeks.
Mavericks 88, Timberwolves 78 — Wesley Matthews hit six 3-pointers and scored 19 points and visiting Dallas beat Minnesota.
Dallas entered the day tied with Utah for seventh in the Western Conference, with the Houston Rockets right on their heels one game behind. Houston kept pace by beating Oklahoma City
The Mavericks host the Rockets on Wednesday and have a challenging finish with games against the Grizzlies, at the Clippers, and Utah and then home against San Antonio to finish the season.
Jazz 101, Suns 86 — Gordon Hayward led five Utah players in double figures with 22 points to win in Phoenix.
Rodney Hood added 18 points, Derrick Favors had 17, Trey Lyles 13, and Rudy Gobert 12 for the Jazz, who scored 26 points off 22 Suns turnovers and committed only 10 turnovers themselves.
The Jazz pulled into a tie for the seventh in the West with the Mavericks, who also won on Sunday. The Houston Rockets remained a game behind Utah and Dallas with their win Sunday. All three teams have five regular-season games remaining.
Mirza Teletovic led the Suns with 24 points, and Tyson Chandler added a season-high 21 to go with 18 rebounds. Phoenix has lost six straight.
Magic 119, Grizzlies 107 — Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points off the bench and host Orlando handed Memphis its sixth straight loss.
Orlando has won three straight games at home and four of its last five. Memphis was led by Matt Barnes, who had 24 points. Zach Randolph added 15 points.
Bulls 102, Bucks 98 — Jimmy Butler scored 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting and Chicago held off a second-half surge by host Milwaukee.
Butler had 6 points and an assist in the final 3:45, when the Bucks had narrowed a 19-point deficit to 1 at 87-86. Justin Holiday hit a tough jumper from the corner with 1:15 left and later grabbed a defensive rebound on a missed finger roll by Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo with 43.9 seconds to go.
The Bulls kept pace with Indiana for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They were two games back of the Pacers when play started Sunday.
Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 34 points, while Jabari Parker added 24 for Milwaukee.
Pelicans 106, Nets 87 — Tim Frazier had 19 points and 13 assists and visiting New Orleans handed Brooklyn its fifth straight loss.
Sean Kilpatrick led the Nets with 15 points. Henry Sims and Markel Brown each had 12 for the Nets.
Both teams started off poorly as New Orleans missed its first seven shots and didn’t score until the 6:24 mark of the first quarter. Brooklyn shot 4 for 25 to start the game.
