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LOS ANGELES, US – Stephen Curry scored 29 points and Kevin Durant added 26 on Thursday, February 2 (Friday morning, Manila time) as the Golden State Warriors extended their dominance over the Los Angeles Clippers with a 133-120 victory.
The Warriors beat the Clippers for the ninth straight time, despite the injury absences of Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, Shaun Livingston and David West.
Green was held out with a left shoulder contusion suffered in Wednesday’s home win over the Charlotte Hornets.
“We’ve got a deep team and all the guys fit into their roles and execute our game plan, our identity, every night no matter who suits up,” Curry said after the Warriors won their fifth straight.
They shot 52.5 percent from the field, and while their 14 3-pointers didn’t approach the stunning 21 they put up against the Hornets, it was still an impressive follow up.
“We’d rather be healthy,” Curry said. “But to have a showing like this in a back-to-back, with so many guys out, is a big-time night.”
Curry’s only 3-pointer in the first half was his 200th of the season, making him the first NBA player to hit 200 or more from beyond the arc in 5 straight campaigns.
He finished with 3 treys, connecting on 11 of 23 overall from the floor and also handed out 11 of the Warriors 38 assists.
Durant had 10 assists and 8 rebounds for the Warriors. Klay Thompson scored 21 points as 7 Golden State players scored in double figures.
Blake Griffin scored 31 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, but the Clippers have now lost 5 of their last 7.
In San Antonio, coach Gregg Popovich tied the league record for most career wins with a single club with the Spurs’ 102-86 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Popovich’s 1,127 victories with the Spurs tied the mark of former Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who was at the helm of the Jazz from 1988-2011 and took them to back-to-back Western Conference titles in 1997 and 1998.
Popovich, who has the most wins of any active coach in the league, characteristically downplayed the achievement.
“When you get all those wins it’s just a longevity thing more than anything,” he said.”So I’m thankful for having the job for a while.”
Kawhi Leonard led 7 Spurs players in double figures with 19 points.
That matched his lowest point total in his past 10 games, but that hardly mattered as the Spurs’ balanced attack got the job done.
Dewayne Dedmon added 13 points while Patty Mills, David Lee, Davis Bertans and Danny Green contributed 12 each.
Wizards work home magic
In Washington, John Wall scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Wizards ran their home winning streak to 16 games with a 116-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bradley Beal drained 5 3-pointers en route to 23 points for the Wizards, who haven’t lost at home since a December 6 setback against Orlando.
Since December 1, the Wizards are an Eastern Conference-best 23-9 including 6 straight wins and 13 victories in their last 15 games.
Even so, their arena was packed with Lakers fans, a fact not lost on Wall.
“Hearing the crowd get up and make big Lakers chants just made me mad,” said the point guard recently selected for a fourth straight NBA All-Star team. “I do what I have to do to try and get a win for us.”
After the Lakers closed within three points on a layup by Jordan Clarkson with 1:49 to play, Wall drained a brace of mid-range jump shots to rebuild the lead.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win against a very good team,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “John Wall being the player he is stepped up and made some huge shots.” – Rappler.com
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