By TOM WITHERS ADVERTISING By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND — Stephen Curry somehow misplaced his shooting touch coming out of the locker room at halftime. He located it just in time to save the Warriors. Curry scored 29
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND — Stephen Curry somehow misplaced his shooting touch coming out of the locker room at halftime.
He located it just in time to save the Warriors.
Curry scored 29 points and made a clutch jumper with 13.5 seconds left as the Golden State opened a long road trip with their fifth straight victory, 108-104 in overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Curry, who nearly recorded a triple-double by adding 11 assists and nine rebounds in 48 minutes, was just 1 of 11 from the floor in the second half and OT when he pulled up and knocked down the game’s biggest shot to give the Warriors a 108-104 lead.
“Thank God for the green light,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “He’s a guy we believe in. We’re not going to tell him to stop shooting.”
David Lee, who didn’t have a point or rebound in the first half, finished with 19 points before fouling out for the Warriors, who are on the road for seven games over the next 13 days.
Kyrie Irving scored 27 for Cleveland, which dropped its fifth straight and lost its third tight game in a row. The Cavs lost by three in Boston on Saturday and two in double-overtime against Atlanta on Thursday.
“We’ve just got to close out games better,” Irving said. “It sounds simple but we’ve just got to do a better job of it.”
Irving drained a 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left in regulation to tie it 99-all. The Warriors, who once trailed by 17, quickly pushed the ball up the floor for one final shot, but Curry’s 8-foot runner in the lane bounced off the rim in the last second, sending the teams to overtime.
Curry threw his head back in disbelief at the miss.
“It was my best look,” he said. “I just missed it.”
But the silky smooth point guard more than made up for it in the extra session.
After Irving missed, Curry fed Andre Iguodala on the wing and the Warriors forward alertly hit a cutting Draymond Green for a dunk to put Golden State ahead 106-104 with 59 seconds to go.
Jarrett Jack misfired for the Cavs, and with the 24-second shot clock winding down on the Warriors’ next possession, Curry dropped a contested 23-foot jumper from the left side to put Golden State up by four.
“It was frustrating,” Curry said of his drought before hitting his big jumper. “None of them were tough looks. They were shots I made in the first half. You realize you have time to make some more plays. I was blessed I had more opportunities.”
The Warriors then stole Cleveland’s last inbounds pass to wrap up a grind-it-out win.
Green went just 2 of 10 from the field but added 10 rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 16 for Golden State.
Curry’s shot wasn’t falling after halftime, so he adjusted his game and picked up seven assists in the second half and overtime.
The loss wrapped up a strange weekend for the Cavs, who excused Andrew Bynum indefinitely on Saturday for conduct detrimental to the team. The Cavs are trying to trade the 7-foot center, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract with Cleveland in July and showed flashes of being dominant again but became a headache.
THUNDER 117
ROCKETS 86
Kevin Durant had 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Oklahoma City won its second straight game without Russell Westbrook, beating Houston.
Jeremy Lamb added a career-high 22 points and five assists for Oklahoma City, which has the NBA’s best record at 25-5. The Thunder have won 12 of their last 13 and 20 of their last 22 games.
Reggie Jackson, starting in Westbrook’s place, had 16 points and eight assists.
Aaron Brooks had 17 points and Chandler Parsons scored 15 for Houston, which was playing its fourth game in five days. The Rockets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, missed their first 12 shots and shot 36.5 percent from the field (31 of 85).
SPURS 112, KINGS 104
SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili scored 28 points, Tony Parker added 22, and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead San Antonio over Sacramento.
Boris Diaw had 14 points and Tiago Splitter added 11 for San Antonio (24-7).
DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points and 14 rebounds, Isaiah Thomas added 27 points and Rudy Gay had 24 for Sacramento (9-20).
Struggling mightily on defense for much of the second half, the Spurs turned to their Big Three to close out the upstart Kings.
Ginobili, Duncan and Parker scored San Antonio’s final 21 points in a 23-8 run to close the game.
MAGIC 109, HAWKS 102
ORLANDO, Fla. — Arron Afflalo scored 21 points and Orlando beat Atlanta to give the Magic back-to-back victories for just the third time this season.
Jeff Teague scored 22 points for the Hawks in their second game without two-time All-Star Al Horford, who is out indefinitely with a torn right pectoral muscle. The Hawks were also coming off three straight, grinding overtime games, the latest of which was Saturday night at home against Charlotte.
The Hawks made the game’s first bucket, a 3-pointer, but then trailed until a spurt in the fourth quarter gave them a three-point lead. But a 9-0 run midway through the final quarter put Orlando in control for good.
