Golden State Warriors dominate third quarter to thump Miami Heat

Agence France-Presse

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Golden State Warriors dominate third quarter to thump Miami Heat
Steph Curry scores 30 to close out the Warriors' dominant game

LOS ANGELES, USA – The NBA champion Golden State Warriors rode a dominant 3rd quarter to a decisive 123-95 victory over the Heat in Miami on Sunday, December 3.

Miami took a 36-33 first-quarter lead despite 16 points in the period from Stephen Curry.

The Warriors then saw forward Shaun Livingston ejected in the second quarter after making contact with a game official while arguing a non-call.

But the Warriors roared ahead in the 3rd quarter, opening the second half with a dunk from Kevin Durant en route to a 12-2 scoring run.

The Warriors out-scored the Heat 37-17 in the 3rd to take a 99-77 lead into the final frame.

Curry finished with 30 points as the Warriors improved to 3-0 on their current road trip.

Durant added 24 and Klay Thompson scored 19.

The Warriors seemed fired up by the ejection of Livingston, who thought he was fouled on a shot attempt and leaned in to argue with the referee. He bumped heads with the official, who also appeared to be moving forward, and was instantly sent to the locker room.

Thunder rock with Westbrook’s 7th TD

The Oklahoma City Thunder held off the depleted San Antonio Spurs 90-87, aided by Russell Westbrook’s 7th triple-double of the season.

Westbrook scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Thunder, who led 90-82 before failing to score in the final 3:34.

A turnover in the closing seconds gave San Antonio a chance to tie the game, but Brandon Paul missed a 3-pointer and Oklahoma City’s Raymond Felton grabbed the rebound to seal it.

Steven Adams added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, whose 20 turnovers made it closer than was comfortable against a Spurs team missing Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Spurs forward Kyle Anderson suffered a sprained knee when he went down hard under the basket in the 3rd quarter. He hit the court in obvious pain and had to be helped to the locker room.

Butler leads Timberwolves

In Minneapolis, Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points, including 20 in the 4th quarter, as the Timberwolves out-dueled the Los Angeles Clippers 112-106.

Karl-Anthony Towns notched his league-leading 19th double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Taj Gibson added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who surrendered a 4th-quarter lead before Butler pulled them through.

Austin Rivers scored 30 points for the Clippers, equalling his career-best with 7 3-pointers.

DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who were again without injured starters Blake Griffin, Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari and Milos Teodosic.

Magic beat Knicks

The Orlando Magic encountered little resistance in a 105-101 victory over the short-handed New York Knicks.

Nikola Vucevic scored 34 points, Evan Fournier added 20 and Jonathan Simmons chipped in 16 as all 5 Magic starters scored in double figures.

The Knicks, already without leading scorer Kristaps Porzingis who missed his 3rd straight game with an ankle injury and a apparent flu, announced shortly before tip-off that second-leading scorer Tim Hardaway would be sidelined by a leg injury.

In their absence Michael Beasley led the Knicks with 21 points. Courtney Lee had 19 and Enes Kanter had 18 points with 16 rebounds.

Vucevic dominated his matchup with Kanter, scoring 12 of his points in the 4th quarter as the Magic thwarted a Knicks’ rally.

“I was just being aggressive whenever I got a good look at the basket,” Vucevic said. “In the 4th quarter, we needed to close the game, so I wanted to keep my aggressiveness and carry my team until the end.” – Rappler.com

 

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