SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 34 points, Splash Brother Stephen Curry added 32 with six 3-pointers and Golden State beat the Boston Celtics 123-107 on Saturday night in a rematch of this year’s NBA Finals won by the Warriors in six games.
Jordan Poole had 20 points starting in place of injured Andrew Wiggins despite shooting 1 for 9 from long range.
Thompson scored 12 of his points in the opening quarter shooting 5 of 9 and had 24 by halftime. Curry shot 12 for 21 and had seven assists and six rebounds playing 37 minutes.
Jaylen Brown had 31 points and nine rebounds, Jayson Tatum scored 18 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 16 off the bench for Boston, which had won eight of nine and three straight.
Brown scored five straight midway through the fourth with his 3-pointer at the 6:37 mark pulling the Celtics to 105-97. Grant Williams was ejected with 1:52 left.
Poole found Draymond Green for a transition dunk the next time down for the Warriors.
NETS 136, PACERS 133
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cam Thomas scored a career-high 33 points, Patty Mills added 24 and Brooklyn beat Indiana while resting its top seven scorers.
Brooklyn won its third straight and for the sixth time in seven games, playing without All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and five more. And the Nets did it by outrebounding the Pacers 59-30 overall and 29-7 on the offensive end.
Tyrese Haliburton finished with 35 points, the most since he joined the Pacers in February, and nine assists.
The Nets had to sweat out Andrew Nembhard’s 3 to force overtime at the buzzer before celebrating a win that came with only nine players in uniform. Somehow Brooklyn managed to keep it close and then turned it around after trailing 120-113 with 5:04 to play.
SPURS 115, HEAT 111
MIAMI (AP) — Keldon Johnson scored 21 points, Romeo Langford added 19 and San Antonio celebrated the 26th anniversary of Gregg Popovich’s first game as coach by beating Miami.
Devin Vassell had 18 points for the Spurs, hitting a jumper with 1:13 left that put them ahead to stay. Jimmy Butler scored 30 points for Miami.
The Spurs were up 113-111 and used two timeouts with 14.7 seconds left to try to get the ball inbounds. But Zach Collins was called for his sixth foul on the second inbounds attempt, and Miami got the ball back with a chance to tie or win.
The Heat elected to go for the win — Tyler Herro missed a 3-pointer, then Caleb Martin missed a right-wing 3 as well, and the Spurs finished it off at the line.
The game was played 26 years to the day of Popovich’s debut — a 93-76 loss at Phoenix on Dec. 10, 1996.
NUGGETS 115, JAZZ 110
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his 80th career triple-double and Denver held off undermanned Utah.
Jamal Murray added 30 points for the Nuggets, who scored the final five to finally put away a Utah team missing four of its top six scorers.
Making his second start of the season, Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a season-high 27 points for the Jazz. They lost for the eighth time in 11 games after a surprising 12-6 start.
Lauri Markkanen (illness) and Mike Conley Jr. (injury management) didn’t make the trip to Denver, while Jordan Clarkson (bruised right hip) and Collin Sexton (right hamstring strain) were out with injuries for the Jazz.
BULLS 144, MAVERICKS 115
CHICAGO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan had 28 points and nine rebounds and Chicago took advantage of NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic’s absence to rout Dallas.
Doncic sat out with a strained right quadriceps. Swingman Josh Green also was out with a right elbow sprain and forward/center Maxi Kleber missed the game because of a sore right foot. Doncic had 33 points and 11 assists in the Mavericks’ 106-105 home loss to Milwaukee on Friday night.
Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and eight rebounds and Ayo Dosunmu had 17 points to help Chicago win its second straight game. The Bulls shot a season-high 63.5% from the floor in their biggest-offensive output of the season.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 27 points for Dallas.
CLIPPERS 114, WIZARDS 107
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nicolas Batum made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 23.8 seconds remaining and Los Angeles sent Washington to its sixth straight loss.
Paul George scored 36 points for the Clippers and John Wall added 13 in his return to Washington, but it was Batum who made big shots in the final quarter. He hit three 3-pointers in the last 4:52 and finished with 12 points.
Kyle Kuzma scored 25 of his 35 points in the first half for Washington. Kristaps Porzingis had 30 points and 15 rebounds.
CAVALIERS 110, THUNDER 102
CLEVELAND (AP) — Caris LeVert scored 22 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Cleveland never trailed against Oklahoma City,
Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Garland added 13 points and eight assists for Cleveland, which is an NBA-best 12-2 at home. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell missed his second straight game with a sore right lower leg.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the third-leading scorer in the NBA at 31.1 points per game, led Oklahoma City with 23.
TRAIL BLAZERS 124, TIMBERWOLVES 118
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 36 points and eight assists, Anfernee Simons added 31 points and Portland beat Minnesota.
Portland overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Minnesota in the opener of a two-game set. They will meet again in Portland on Monday night.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 26 points.
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The Associated Press
