NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Stephen Curry scored a season-high 39 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed out seven assists before fouling out Sunday as the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors won 118-111 at Brooklyn.
A day after rallying from a 24-point deficit to beat Philadelphia, the Warriors surged ahead by as many as 28 points early in the second half before the Nets battled back and Curry was out for the last three minutes.
“It was a good learning experience for him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “I thought, obviously, he was brilliant in terms of his scoring and shot-making. I thought his second half, he got a little wild.
“We had to withstand their run, and luckily we did with good execution in the last few minutes after Steph Curry went out.”
The Warriors improved to 13-4, matching Houston for the best record in the Western Conference with their ninth victory in 10 games, despite the absence of star forward Kevin Durant with a left ankle sprain.
Curry said trying to be aggressive with Durant out led to his 11th career fouling out in the NBA.
“You’d love to have those plays back, but I loved the aggressiveness I had on those possessions,” Curry said. “You don’t like to foul out, but it was kind of how I tried to bring that intensity the whole game.”
Golden State’s Klay Thompson had 23 points and 10 rebounds and sank a 3-pointer in his 71st consecutive game while Allan Crabbe had 25 points to lead the Nets (6-10), who suffered their eighth loss in 11 games.
Durant and Washington guard John Wall were sidelined Sunday with injuries.
Durant, who suffered a sprained left ankle in the Warriors’ 124-116 victory Saturday at Philadelphia, is averaging 24.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 15 games.
His absence comes three days before Golden State plays at Oklahoma City against Durant’s former club.
Wall, averaging 19.9 points and 9.3 assists a game, was benched with a swollen left knee. A fluid buildup has been lingering for about a week.
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, grabbed eight rebounds and added six assists to spark the Toronto Raptors over visiting Washington 100-91.
C.J. Miles added 12 points for the Raptors (11-5), who stretched their win streak to four games, while Bradley Beal led Washington (9-7) with 27 points.
Wall also missed the Wizards’ visit to Toronto two weeks ago.
Triple double for Ball
Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball managed his second career triple double with 11 points, 11 assists and an NBA rookie season-best 16 rebounds as the hosts downed Denver 127-109. Lakers reserve Julius Randle led seven double-digit scorers on each team with 24 points.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 points and Myles Turner added 25 as the Indiana Pacers ended their six-game Miami losing streak by downing the host Heat 120-95. The Pacers made 60 percent of shots from the floor in their most lopsided victory of the season.
Andre Drummond delivered 20 points and 16 rebounds while Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris each added 18 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 100-97 triumph at Minnesota, while T.J. Warren scored 27 points to lead the Phoenix Suns over visiting Chicago 113-105.
Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz, the top pick in this year’s NBA Draft, will miss at least two more weeks with a shoulder injury, the 76ers said.
© Agence France-Presse
