SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 36 points with 22 of those in the fourth quarter and overtime, shining in his first home game back from a long injury absence and leading the Golden State Warriors past the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks 125-116 on Saturday night.
Curry hit a tying 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in regulation, then blocked a layup attempt by Jrue Holiday in the closing moments. The Warriors got the ball back with 1.9 seconds remaining and Curry inbounded to Draymond Green, who missed from deep.
Holiday had put Milwaukee up on a 3 with 32.7 seconds to play and wound up with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. But the Bucks, playing without star Giannis Antetokounmpo, had their three-game winning streak snapped with just their second defeat in 21 games since Jan. 21.
Thompson added 22 points, Donte DiVincenzo had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Warriors won at home for the seventh in a row and 11th in 12.
Khris Middleton had 19 points and five assists, Bobby Portis contributed 15 points and 13 rebounds and Brook Lopez 19 points and seven boards for Milwaukee.
CELTICS 134, HAWKS 125
ATLANTA (AP) — Jayson Tatum led a balanced attack by scoring 11 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, and Boston overcame Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback bid.
The Celtics opened a six-game trip by having six players score in double figures. Jaylen Brown had 24 points. Tatum added 15 rebounds.
Trae Young had 35 points and 13 assists for Atlanta, which could not maintain momentum following back-to-back wins at Washington. The Hawks remain eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.
With 1:25 remaining and Boston leading 129-121, Young and Marcus Smart had to be separated after the two were entangled and fell to the court under the Celtics’ basket. Smart was called for an initial foul before a lengthy review by the officials called both players for technical fouls and ejected Smart. Young made two free throws to cut the deficit to six points.
CLIPPERS 106, KNICKS 95
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat New York.
Paul George added 22 points for the Clippers, who have won three straight after dropping five in a row.
It was Leonard’s seventh straight game with at least 21 points, and he is averaging 31 points during that stretch. He also has four 30-point games during that span.
Immanuel Quickley had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped three straight after a nine-game winning streak. Quickley started in place of Jalen Brunson, who was sidelined with a sore left foot. Julius Randle scored 19 despite shooting 5 of 24.
PACERS 121, PISTONS 115
DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Smith scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Indiana beat Detroit to extend the Pistons’ losing streak to 11 games.
Isaiah Jackson added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which improved to 5-2 in its last seven games.
Isaiah Livers had a career-high 18 points for Detroit, which dropped to a league-worst 15-53. Killian Hayes had 17 points and 13 assists.
The Pistons were missing five of their top six scorers; Hayes was the only one in the lineup. The Pacers played without Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner.
MAGIC 126, HEAT 114, OT
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Wendell Carter had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Orlando bounced back from a fourth-quarter collapse to beat Miami in overtime.
Jimmy Butler scored 38 points for the Heat, including 15 in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter when Miami overcame a 15-point deficit. Butler’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.
The finish of the fourth quarter included a wild sequence during which Paolo Banchero’s foul on a 3-point attempt by Butler with 14.5 seconds left was overturned by a replay.
Banchero had 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Magic. Franz Wagner had 17 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an ankle injury early in the fourth quarter.
BULLS 119, ROCKETS 111
HOUSTON (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 36 points and DeMar DeRozan added 27 as Chicago used a huge run in the fourth quarter to top the Rockets.
The Bulls trailed by four midway through the fourth before going on a 13-0 run for a 115-106 lead with two minutes remaining.
DeRozan, who had seven rebounds and five assists, scored the first four points in the run and LaVine scored the next four. LaVine’s second basket in that span came on an alley-oop from DeRozan, and former Rocket Patrick Beverley capped the run with a 3-pointer.
It’s the second straight victory for the Bulls, who got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Nikola Vucevic and 16 points and 10 rebounds from Beverley. LaVine had nine rebounds and five assists.
Rookie Jabari Smith Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Western Conference-worst Rockets, who dropped their third in a row.
GRIZZLIES 112, MAVERICKS 108
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Rookie David Roddy scored a career-high 24 points, including 17 points in the fourth quarter, and Memphis rallied past short-handed Dallas.
Roddy connected on 7 of 8 shots in the fourth, including 3 of 4 from outside the arc. Desmond Bane led the Grizzlies with 25 points, while Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 14 points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. lead the Mavericks with 23 points, while Jaden Hardy finished with 22. Josh Green added 21 points for Dallas.
Two of the NBA’s biggest stars — the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Memphis’ Ja Morant — were absent from the game. Doncic has a left thigh strain, while Morant is away from the team after posting a video last weekend in which he appeared to be displaying a gun at a Denver-area strip club.
THUNDER 110, PELICANS 96
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Oklahoma City defeated undermanned New Orleans for its fourth victory in five games.
Josh Giddey added 19 points and Jalen Williams had 17 for the Thunder, who led most of the way and by as many as 21 in the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander, who did not attempt a 3-pointer, hit 11 of 23 shots and made all 13 of his free throws.
Already struggling during All-Star power forward Zion Williamson’s extended injury absence, New Orleans also played without high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram, who entered the day listed as questionable after leaving a game Wednesday with a right ankle sprain. CJ McCollum scored 26 points to lead the Pelicans.
KINGS 128, SUNS 119
PHOENIX (AP) — Harrison Barnes scored 19 points, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk each added 18 and Sacramento used a balanced effort to beat Phoenix and snap the Suns' four-game winning streak.
The Kings moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Suns for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Sacramento, which ended the game on a 13-4 run.
The Suns were playing their second straight game without recently-acquired star Kevin Durant, who hurt his ankle during pregame warmups before Wednesday’s game. The team says he has a sprained left ankle and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
Devin Booker scored 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting for Phoenix. Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 16 points and 16 assists.
JAZZ 119, HORNETS 111
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Talen Horton-Tucker scored a season-high 37 points and had 10 assists and eight rebounds as Utah defeated Charlotte for its second win in a row.
Walker Kessler added 17 points and 16 rebounds and Kelly Olynyk had 17 points for the Jazz, who outrebounded the Hornets 60-43. Lauri Markkanen had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points and Terry Rozier added 22 for the Hornets, who had their two-game win streak snapped.
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The Associated Press
