Tempo Desk
Golden State 137, Portland 122
LA Lakers 108, Memphis 94
Washington 123, Brooklyn 122
Denver 124, Minnesota 109
Chicago 118, Dallas 108
LA Clippers 112, Phoenix 107
Utah 130, San Antonio 109
Boston 122, Detroit 120
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Two-time MVP Stephen Curry got his swagger back on Sunday night, scoring a career-high 62 points as the Golden State Warriors outgunned the Portland Trail Blazers, 137-122.
It was just like old times for Curry, arguably the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA.
Curry, who played just five games in the coronavirus-shortened 2019-20 season due to a broken hand, drained eight of 16 from beyond the arc to score the most points by a Warrior since Rick Barry scored 64 in the 1970s.
The Warriors went wire-to-wire for the win at the Chase Center in San Francisco and Curry got into the zone early, delivering 21 points in the first quarter and capping his night with 17 points and several late threes in the fourth.
Curry topped his previous high of 54 with two free throws with 2:23 to play and capped his night with a nothing-but-net three pointer with 42 seconds remaining. It was his seventh career 50-point game.
The 50-point night was the NBA’s first of the season, while the 60-pointer was the first for a Warrior since Klay Thompson had 60 in 2016.
The only blemish for Curry was that his streak of free throws was snapped at a franchise-record 80 in the first quarter. The run dated to March 2019.
Elsewhere, Thomas Bryant stuffed the go-ahead dunk with 14.9 seconds left and the Washington Wizards held on for a 123-122 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 27 points and 10 rebounds and assisted on Bryant’s decisive basket, which stood up as Nets stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant both missed on the final possession of the contest.
It was a drama-filled finish at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot put the Nets ahead 122-121 with a wide-open layup with 28.2 seconds remaining.
Russell Westbrook finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards
In Memphis, reigning champions the Los Angeles Lakers notched their third straight road win, with LeBron James scoring 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter of a 108-94 victory over the Grizzlies in Memphis.
The Grizzlies, without reigning Rookie of the Year Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. because of injury, used a 17-0 scoring run to take an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 12 in the first half.
Jayson Tatum delivered the game-winner in the Boston Celtics’ 122-120 victory over the Pistons in Detroit, his fall-away jumper with 2.9 seconds left making the difference as the Celtics bounced back from a narrow loss to the Pistons on the same court on Friday.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic posted his fourth triple-double of the season with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists and Jamal Murray scored 32 points for the Nuggets in a 124-109 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
