Curry, Durant fire Warriors over Raptors

TORONTO, Canada -- Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant had 30-point games to fire the Golden State Warriors to a fifth consecutive victory on Wednesday in a 127-121 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Reigning NBA MVP Curry finished with 35 points and seven assists after the Warriors held off a furious late fightback from Toronto to claim the win.

The Warriors appeared to be cruising to victory after opening up an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Raptors however gradually reduced the deficit to six points with a minute left after a three-pointer from Terrence Ross.

The Warriors hung on to improve to 9-2 while the Raptors fell to 7-4 after their second straight defeat.

Durant finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Klay Thompson ended with 14 points while Draymond Green (11 points) and Andre Iguodala (10) also made double digits.

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto's scoring with 34 points, the ninth time in 11 games that he has scored at least 30. Kyle Lowry weighed in with 24 points while Jonas Valanciunas added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the game had effectively been won in the second quarter, when his team outscored Toronto by 32-15 to forge a 66-53 lead at half-time.

"The second quarter was great, one of the best quarters we have played," Kerr said.

"That's probably the only quarter we've played tonight the way we want to play. Defense was good, we didn't foul. We rebounded, and that was obviously the key to the game, that whole stretch. Draymond (Green) was brilliant. The whole quarter, I thought he was great.

"It was a good way to start the (four-game) trip," Kerr added. "Beating a really, really, good team in a very tough environment."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Record-breaker Curry as Warriors down Pelicans

OAKLAND -- Stephen Curry set a new single-game record with 13 three-pointers as the Golden State Warriors downed the winless New Orleans Pelicans 111-99 on Monday.

Curry, who on Friday had seen the end of his incredible 157-game streak with at least one three-pointer in a defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers, finished with 46 points after a virtuoso display.

The reigning NBA MVP's 13 threes broke the previous record of 12 he had shared with Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall.

"That's a pretty cool record to have," Curry said after the win. "It probably won't last too long, the way guys shoot in this league. But to have the three point record is pretty special."

Curry, who made zero of 10 three-point attempts in his last outing against the Lakers, said he had not dwelt on his setback last week, the first time in two years he had not drained a three.

"I wasn't even thinking about the 0 for 10 tonight," he said. "I was thinking about it a bit in practice for the last two days, but after that it was over. It was nice to keep shooting. And thankfully they went in."

Curry paid tribute to the work of his team-mates in helping to set him into position for his three-point bonanza, especially his 13th and final effort in the fourth quarter.

"The guys set great screens all night. And on that last play they had the IQ to know where I was. Pretty fun night," he added.

The win saw the Warriors improve to five and two while the Pelicans slumped to 0-7 despite another big points haul from Anthony Davis, who finished with 33. Davis has averaged 30 points per game so far this season.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Durant shows Westbrook, Thunder no mercy in rout

MANILA, Philippines — Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook distanced themselves from one another during tipoff of their first game as opponents.

With a red-hot Durant, a stacked Golden State Warriors team didn't take long to put the game out of reach.

Durant exploded for 39 points including 7 of 11 from three-point land as the Warriors bucked a slow start to dismantle the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-96 on Thursday in Oakland.

It was the first meeting between Durant and Westbrook since the former bolted the Thunder in the summer.

Durant couldn't get in a rhythm early, but once Steph Curry and his teammates started to look for their prized acquisition and encouraged him to score at every opportunity, Durant didn't disappoint. He finished the first half with 29 points.

"As soon as the game started it brought back some memories, but after that it was back to business," Durant said.

Westbrook, coming off a win over the Los Angeles Clippers 24 hours prior, finished with 20 points on 4 of 15 shooting, to go with six rebounds and 10 assists.

The relationship between Durant and Westbrook has been icy since the separation.

Entering the Oracle Arena, Westbrook wore a photographer's garb throwing an apparent shade at Durant, who covered this year's Super Bowl as a photographer.

Just before tipoff when all the players had been introduced, neither star approached the other.

To drum up interest for the game, NBA on TNT put together a short promo video using Adele's "Hello."

It looked like the game would live up to the hype. Behind Westbrook and Steven Adams, the Thunder led 32-31 after the first quarter.

Once Westbrook sat down, things started to unravel for the Oklahoma City (4-1), which was outscored 37-11 in the second quarter.

Curry finished with 21 points for the Warriors (4-1), while Klay Thompson, who has struggled with his shot to start the season, ended up with 18 points making 4 of 8 three-pointers.

"The Warriors are doing a lot of trash talking," Westbrook said. "Apparently I guess they talk a lot of trash now, but we'll see how that goes."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Reigning champs Cavaliers edge Magic to stay unbeaten

LOS ANGELES -- It wasn't always pretty, but the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 105-99 victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday to stay unbeaten in the fledgling NBA season.

Shooting guard J.R. Smith, whose contract dispute dragged on through training camp before the reigning NBA champs inked him to a four-year deal worth as much as $57 million, gave good value with three three-pointers in the final three-and-a-half minutes as Cleveland won after letting most of an 18-point lead get away.

"Not every game is going to be pretty for us," Cavs guard Kyrie Irving said. "We understand that. (We) came off a kind of late win just like this against Toronto yesterday and now Swish (Smith) hit the big shot. For us it's just about being ready no matter what the score is. We've just got to stay resilient."

Superstar LeBron James had 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds, Irving added 20 and Smith shook off another slow start to score 16 points -- 11 of them in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Love fouled out in the final minute with 19 points and five rebounds as the Cavaliers improved to 3-0 for the season less than a week after raising their 2015-16 championship banner.

After controlling most of the contest, Cleveland opened the fourth quarter shooting just 2 of 12. They went more than five minutes without a basket from the floor, and the Magic had trimmed the deficit to 88-85 with four minutes to play.

"I just thought there was a stretch in the game where we messed around, took some bad shots," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said.
Lue said Smith is still finding his rhythm after missing all but one pre-season game.

But James found him in the corner for a big three-pointer after Orlando's Elfrid Payton's jump shot pulled the visitors within three.
Smith added another three-pointer on the Cavaliers' next trip down and one more in the final minute.

"The guys just set the table for me," Smith said. "It was just time for me to eat."

   
In Denver, Damian Lillard made a floating seven-foot shot with three-tenths of a second remaining in overtime to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-113 triumph.

Portland erased a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit, handing the Nuggets a defeat in their home opener for the third straight year.
Lillard scored 37 points and C.J. McCollum added 23 with 10 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Nikola Jokic scored 23 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and Emmanuel Mudiay had 21 points for the Nuggets on what proved an eventful night at their Pepsi Center arena.

At halftime the Nuggets retired the number 55 of Dikembe Mutombo, the Congolese great whose Hall of Fame career spanned 18 seasons.

But the night on which he was honored didn't go entirely smoothly. With 9:18 remaining in the fourth quarter half of the overhead lights in the arena went out, delaying the game for 28 minutes.

Portland put a further damper on the festivities with their huge rally, scoring the last six points of the game to win it.

Spurs pound Pelicans

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker sat out San Antonio's home opener, but the Spurs still had enough firepower to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 98-79.

San Antonio never trailed after the first quarter and used a 17-4 scoring run late in the third period to take a stranglehold on the contest.

Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and San Antonio smothered Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis, who came into the contest averaging 47.5 points per game in the young season but was held to 18.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was asked if games against Western Conference powers Golden State and San Antonio on consecutive days was the toughest back-to-back the NBA had to offer.

"We're playing against a team that won 73 games and a team that won 67 games," he said. "I don't know if there's ever been a back-to-back where you play against teams that won 200 games."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lakers shoot down Rockets to launch new era

LOS ANGELES -- The new-look Los Angeles Lakers, with Kobe Bryant retired and coach Luke Walton at the helm, opened their NBA season with a 120-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. D'Angelo Russell scored 20 points and Julius Randle added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who overcame James Harden's 34 points and career-high 17 assists for Houston -- who lost in former Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's first game in charge of the Rockets.

"It feels good," said Walton, a former Laker who cut his coaching teeth as an assistant to Steve Kerr at Golden State.

"It feels really good. The guys really fought tonight. A big part of what we're trying to do here is develop this identity, this culture ... learning how to win games is a skill at this level. We did some things that could have cost us the win at the end of the game tonight, so obviously we can learn from that -- and that fact that we still got that win feels really good."

Walton admitted to "nerves and excitement" before the contest, but was buoyed by the presence of his father, former NBA star Bill Walton.

"The Walton force will be strong tonight," said the 36-year-old coach, who has been tasked with turning around a Lakers team that plunged to a 21-61 record in 2014-15, only to follow up with a franchise worst 17-65 campaign last season.



Two free throws from Clarkson lifted the Lakers to a 108-104 lead with 6:41 to play. But Harden converted a pair of foul shots with 3:53 left to knot the score at 110.

Two Russell free throws boosted the Lakers to a 113-112 lead with 2:47 remaining and the hosts wouldn't trail from there.

The Rockets, who led by as many as 10 points, grabbed a 71-63 edge at the half. They connected on 64.4 percent of their shots compared to 53.2 percent for the Lakers before the break.

"I was real proud of the way they accepted the challenge in the second half," Walton said of his young team, "real proud that they stuck with it."

While the Lakers are in rebuilding mode -- embarking on their first season since 1995 without superstar Bryant -- there was plenty of glamour at Staples Center, where Hollywood stars Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington were among the crowd, as was NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

"We're just going to go out there and fight every night and play the right way," Randle said of the Lakers' expectations. "That's all we can promise -- to get better every day and play the right way."

Revamped Heat down Magic

The Miami Heat, forging ahead after the free agent departure of Dwayne Wade, opened the season with a 108-96 victory over the Magic in Orlando.

The Heat made up for what they lack in star power with energy, a well-balanced attack and determined defense.

Hassan Whiteside scored 18 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked four shots.

"We need Hassan to be great, and he was when we needed him," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He really anchored us defensively and ignited everyone out there."

Six Heat players scored in double figures and six players notched at least six rebounds.

"It's just game one, so it's early, but you're starting to see the foundation we want to build," Spoelstra said. "Guys really have to buy into the concept for this to work. You enjoy when it's being played the correct way out there."

The Oklahoma City Thunder, also adjusting to the departure of a star after Kevin Durant signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors, leaned on Russell Westbrook in a 103-97 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Big nights, mixed results

In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan poured in 40 points to lead the Raptors to a 109-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

DeRozan connected on 17 of 27 shots from the field and six of six free throws in what coach Dwane Casey called "one of the most efficient" performances he'd seen from his star.

A monster 50-point game from New Orleans' Anthony Davis couldn't save the New Orleans Pelicans, however, as they fell 107-102 to the Denver Nuggets.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Spurs thrash Warriors on Durant's opening night

OAKLAND -- Kawhi Leonard inspired the San Antonio Spurs with 35 points as the Golden State Warriors' much-hyped "super team" crashed to a season-opening 129-100 thrashing on Tuesday.

A packed house at Oakland's Oracle Arena had arrived hoping to see new signee Kevin Durant take his place among the most potent offense in the NBA.

But while Durant enjoyed a solid enough scoring league debut, with 27 points, the Warriors were comprehensively outplayed by a Spurs side who looked sharper in almost every department.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both failed to hit the heights of their best form of last year, when they helped the Warriors to a historic NBA record of 73 wins against only nine losses.

Thompson was particularly off-color, making only one three-pointer from six attempts with Curry sinking only three of 10 in his haul of 26 points.

Instead it was San Antonio who seized control from the contest early on, grabbing a 31-20 lead by the end of the first quarter which they were never to relinquish.

By half-time the Spurs had taken a commanding 64-46 lead and were always able to keep the Warriors at arm's length as they sought to rally thereafter.

While Leonard was outstanding, demonstrating his readiness to step into the leadership role vacated by the retired Tim Duncan, the Spurs also benefited from a dazzling performance from LaMarcus Aldridge, who chipped in with 26 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.

Jonathon Simmons also stood out with 20 points from his 28 minutes on the court while veteran Manu Ginobili also made double figures with 10 points.

Curry described the mauling as a "slap in the face" but vowed to produce a response in Friday's road game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

"It's a nice little slap in the face," Curry said. "First game you want to come out and protect your own court and have that energy of a home opener. I just felt we didn't have that energy," added Curry, who finished with 26 points.

"I'm not going to over-exaggerate the vibe but you've got to kind of bounce back. We have a lot of work to do, but I think we're still in a pretty good spot."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com