NBA: Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins help Warriors hold off Celtics

Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Andrew Wiggins added 27 and the Golden State Warriors survived after blowing a 20-point lead in a 111-107 win over the shorthanded Boston Celtics on Friday night in Boston.

Andre Iguodala added 12 points while Draymond Green contributed a team-high eight assists for the Warriors, who have won three straight and five of their last six games.

Jayson Tatum had 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead Boston, which has dropped five of its last seven. Jaylen Brown added 20 points, Marcus Smart had 19 with eight assists and Josh Richardson scored 15 for the Celtics.

Boston was without starting center Al Horford and forwards Grant Williams, Jabari Parker, Juancho Hernangomez and Sam Hauser, who all landed in the league's COVID-19 health and safety protocols this week.

Celtics guard Dennis Schroder also missed the game with a non-COVID illness. Boston guard Romeo Langford left the game with neck pain in the second quarter and did not return.

Warriors star Klay Thompson (right Achilles tendon repair) remained sidelined despite being recalled from G League affiliate Santa Cruz earlier in the week. Center James Wiseman (right knee meniscus tear) and Jordan Poole (COVID-19 protocol) also sat out.

Golden State was ahead 68-54 at halftime after leading by as many as 20 late in the second quarter.

After outscoring the Warriors 27-14 in the third quarter, Tatum's stepback 3-pointer with 11:25 remaining gave Boston its first lead since the opening minutes at 84-82.

Golden State scored the next seven points and used a 23-11 overall run to push its lead back up to double digits at 105-95 on Curry's 3 with 4:25 to play.

Boston answered with a 9-2 push to pull within 107-104 on Brown's layup with 50.9 seconds to go before Curry answered with a floater with 35 seconds on the clock.

Curry committed an offensive foul for his sixth to end his night with 10.7 seconds to go and Smart hit a 3 with 4.2 on the clock to make it a two-point game. Damion Lee's two free throws with 2.8 seconds left sealed the win.

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NBA: Kevin Durant does it again as Nets surge past Hawks

Kevin Durant scored 31 points and James Harden collected 20 points and 11 assists to lift the visiting Brooklyn Nets to a 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

Durant made 12 of 22 shots from the floor to torment the Hawks for the second time this season. He scored 32 points in Brooklyn's 117-108 home win over Atlanta on Nov. 3.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Bruce Brown each had 15 points for the Nets, who exploited the interior by scoring 66 points in the paint. Brooklyn also stepped it up in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Hawks by a 24-14 margin.

Trae Young recorded 31 points and 10 assists, marking the fifth straight game he has reached at least 25 and 10, respectively.

Atlanta's John Collins had 20 points and Kevin Huerter sank five 3-pointers to highlight his 19-point performance. Clint Capela collected 14 points and 16 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari added 13 points for the Hawks, who have lost three of their last four games.

Durant made a mid-range jumper to give Brooklyn a 97-95 lead with 7:02 remaining in the fourth quarter. James Johnson followed with a layup and Harden added four quick points to cap an 8-0 run for the Nets.

Capela's basket and Young's 3-pointer and driving layup pulled the Hawks within one with 3:35 to play. However, Harden answered with a layup at the other end.

Durant forced a turnover at one end and sank a 19-foot jumper at the other to give Brooklyn a 107-102 lead with 2:14 remaining. He essentially sealed the win by making four straight foul shots down the stretch.

Atlanta scored 18 of the first 28 points of the third quarter to secure a 73-62 lead, capped by Huerter's fourth 3-pointer of the night. Undaunted, Brooklyn slowly chipped away before Cam Thomas calmly sank a pair of 3-pointers to give the Nets an 89-88 lead.

Durant made 6 of 8 shots from the floor to finish with 12 points in the first quarter. He drained a mid-range jumper and a driving layup to pull the Nets into a tie at 26 to the end the period.

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NBA: Stephen Curry, Warriors win 10th straight home game

The NBA's winningest home team and one of its losingest road clubs followed their season-long forms Friday night when Stephen Curry's game-high 32 points led the Golden State Warriors to a 118-103 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco.

The win was the Warriors' 10th straight at home, with each of the 10 coming by 10 or more points.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers fell to 1-9 on the road with a third consecutive loss away from home, their second in three nights to begin a three-game trip.

Golden State led by as many as 21 points before Portland, getting three rapid-fire 3-pointers from Anfernee Simons, rallied within striking distance at 96-88 on a Larry Nance Jr. dunk with 6:39 to play.

But Andrew Wiggins countered with a pair of interior hoops and Curry bombed in his fifth and sixth 3-pointers of the night, allowing Golden State to extend the margin to 14 before coasting home.

Curry dominated his personal duel with San Francisco Bay Area native Damian Lillard, who shot just 5 for 15 on a 16-point night. Curry made 12 of his 25 shots while also finding time for eight assists and seven rebounds.

Wiggins shot 10-for-16 in a 25-point performance, while Jordan Poole finished with 14 points, and Draymond Green and Kevon Looney chipped in 12 apiece.

Green also contributed a game-high 12 assists, a game high-tying eight rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals to Golden State's sixth straight win.

Juan Toscano-Anderson matched Green's rebound total while also finding time for eight points in a key reserve role.

Looney made six of his seven shots, helping the Warriors outshoot the Trail Blazers 54.0 percent to 41.9 percent.

Simons wound up 5 of 10 on 3-point attempts and 7 of 13 overall en route to a team-high 19 points off the bench for Portland, which lost its second straight in the wake of a four-game winning streak.

Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, CJ McCollum 16 to go with a team-high seven rebounds and Norman Powell 15 points before leaving the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.

Lillard complemented his 16 points with a team-high six assists.

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NBA: Kevin Durant, Nets stave off Pistons' late charge

Kevin Durant had 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the visiting Brooklyn Nets held off a late Detroit rally to down the Pistons 96-90 on Friday.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and five rebounds and James Harden compiled 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but also committed nine turnovers. Blake Griffin added 13 points and Bruce Brown chipped in 10 for the Nets, who have won four straight.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 17 points. Kelly Olynyk contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Cory Joseph and Saddiq Bey added 12 points each.

Defenses ruled the opening half as it ended tied at 39 apiece.

Durant led the Nets with nine points but shot 3-for-11 from the field. Harden made just one of six shots while scoring seven. Cunningham paced the Pistons with nine points. Brooklyn shot 32.5 percent from the field, while Detroit made 33.3 percent of its attempts.

Brooklyn scored the first eight points of the second half, including five by Brown. After the Pistons closed to within three points, the Nets went on a 13-3 run to stretch their lead to 62-49. Durant and Harden began that spurt with 3-pointers. Harden had another 3 during that span and Griffin finished it off with a dunk.

Griffin's 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining in the quarter gave Brooklyn a 72-57 lead. Durant had 12 points in the quarter as the Nets carried a 78-62 lead into the fourth.

Detroit started the quarter with a 9-2 run, which included two Frank Jackson 3-pointers.

With Brooklyn up 86-75, the Pistons made another run. Cunningham and Joseph made 3-pointers to pull Detroit within two at 88-86 with four minutes remaining.

A Durant floater doubled the Nets' lead but Cunningham answered with a 3-pointer. Durant hit a mid-range jumper to make it 92-89.

Griffin then drew a charge against Bey and made an offensive rebound to set up Durant's clinching layup with 12.9 seconds remaining.

-reuters-

NBA: Chris Paul hits scoring milestone as Suns dump Lakers

A historic night for Chris Paul was marred by two incidents, one an altercation between Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard, during the visiting Phoenix Suns' 115-105 triumph over Los Angeles on Friday night.

In a game matching two teams that had lost at home in their season openers, Paul led the Phoenix bounce-back effort with 23 points and a game-high 14 assists.

His most significant tally came on a free throw in the second quarter that not only produced the 20,000th point of his career but also made him the first in NBA history to achieve both that milestone and 10,000 assists.

Paul became the 47th player to reach 20,000 points. He ranks fifth all time in assists.

As the Suns were en route to a 57-44 halftime advantage, Davis confronted Howard at the Lakers' bench during a Phoenix timeout a few minutes after the veteran big man had committed a hard foul on Paul and subsequently mishandled an alley-oop pass.

Howard didn't back down and was nearly pushed through the bench as fans in the pricey first row scattered.

After getting nine minutes of playing time in the first two periods, Howard only left the bench in the second half to serve as a cheerleader. He wore a white sleeveless undershirt over his jersey top.

In a game that also featured five technical fouls, Rajon Rondo had a run-in with a fan in the third quarter when the Lakers guard was pointing at the man following a soft drink having been thrown or spilled on the sidelines. The man slapped Rondo's hand away, then was quickly escorted away by security guards.

Phoenix's Devin Booker backed Paul with 22 points, while Mikal Bridges added 21 and Jae Crowder 13. Deandre Ayton pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to complement eight points.

LeBron James finished with 25 points and Davis 22 to go with a team-high 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 32 points before getting as close as 107-95 on an Austin Reeves 3-pointer with 1:51 to play.

Crowder then countered with a 3-pointer and the Suns, who had fallen to the Denver Nuggets in their opener, kept the Lakers at arm's length the rest of the way.

After a lackluster Lakers debut in a loss to Golden State on Tuesday, Russell Westbrook nearly registered a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high nine assists. Carmelo Anthony added 16 points off the Los Angeles bench.

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