Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson scored 27 points each and the Golden State Warriors used a huge third quarter to roll to a 131-106 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
The Warriors led by five at halftime and used a 38-point third quarter, with 15 points from Curry, to take a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Dwight Howard, who missed the first two games against the Warriors, led Houston with 23 points and 10 rebounds on a night when the NBA’s leading scorer James Harden scored just 11.
The Rockets got five straight points from Kostas Papanikolaou to cut the lead to 110-94 with seven minutes left, but Golden State scored nine quick points after that, led by Curry’s five, to make it 119-94 and cruise to its NBA-leading 24th double-digit victory.
Harden made just two of his first 12 shots and got his fourth foul on a charge with 1:44 left in the third. He was 4 of 15, including 0 of 4 on 3s, to finish well below his average of 27 points a game.
Hawks roll on
Kyle Korver made a season-high seven 3-pointers on his way to 24 points, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 107-99 for its 12th straight victory.
Al Horford added 22 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks matched the second-longest win streak in franchise history. Paul Millsap scored 16 and Jeff Teague had 17 points and 11 assists.
The Hawks have won 26 of 28 since a 7-6 start, surging to the top of the Eastern Conference with one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses and a stingy defense.
Derrick Rose had 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Chicago, which has dropped five of seven. Pau Gasol had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler scored 15.
Grizzlies down Portland
Zach Randolph had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Beno Udrih added 17 points, including two key buckets in the final minute as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 102-98.
Memphis won its fourth straight and led by as many as 20 in the second half. But it saw the lead dwindle to 95-93 when Damian Lillard connected on a 3-pointer with 1:06 left. Udrih’s 20-footer as the shot clock expired on the next possession helped Memphis maintain the lead.
Lillard connected on another 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, but Udrih made a 22-footer with 8.7 seconds for the win.
Jeff Green and Courtney Lee matched Udrih’s 17 points, and Marc Gasol finished with 15.
LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 32 points.
Clippers dethrone Kings
Blake Griffin scored 18 of his 30 points in the second half, Matt Barnes had 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 117-108.
Chris Paul added 12 points and nine assists, J.J. Redick had 18 points and Jamal Crawford scored 13 off the bench for the Clippers, who bounced back from a sluggish first half to win for the fourth straight time at Sacramento.
Griffin had 13 points in the third quarter and then scored five over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game to help Los Angeles to its fourth win in six games.
Jason Thompson had 23 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the Kings.
Also Saturday, the Detroit Pistons routed the Philadelphia 76ers 107-89, the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Indiana Pacers 80-71 in overtime and the Washington Wizards downed the Brooklyn Nest 99-90.
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