Klay Thompson returned from a 2 1/2-year absence with 17 points in 20 minutes of play, and Stephen Curry scored a game-high 28 points Sunday night as Golden State Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak with a 96-82 win over visiting Cleveland Cavaliers in San Francisco.
Playing for the first time since tearing the ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Thompson needed just 40 seconds to record his first basket of the season and less than a half to throw down his first dunk and splash his first 3-pointer.
The five-time All-Star finished 3-for-8 on 3-pointers and 7-for-18 overall from the field. He also had three rebounds, one assist and one block following a 941-day absence that included a ruptured right Achilles in a comeback attempt before the 2020-21 season.
Curry shot 4-for-11 on 3-pointers on a night when he and Thompson combined for seven of Golden State’s 10 threes in the team’s 42 attempts. Lamar Stevens had 17 points to pace Cleveland, which was making its second stop on a six-game Western swing.
Grizzlies 127, Lakers 119
Desmond Bane shot 5-for-8 from 3-point distance and scored 23 points as visiting Memphis beat Los Angeles to earn its franchise-record ninth straight victory.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for the Grizzlies, and Ja Morant finished with 16 points and seven assists after he sat out Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers with a sore left thigh.
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LeBron James had 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who came in riding a season-long four-game winning streak. It was the 11th consecutive game that James scored at least 25 points; James, 37, is the oldest NBA player to accomplish that feat.
Nets 121, Spurs 119 (OT)
Rookie Cam Thomas hit the tie-breaking basket with 1.7 seconds left in overtime as Brooklyn ended a five-game home losing streak by outlasting San Antonio in New York.
The Nets won their first home game since beating the Philadelphia 76ers on December 16 and survived blowing a 12-point lead in the final five minutes of regulation.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 28 points but also missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation, and the game reached overtime when an alley-oop layup by Kenta Bates-Diop was short at thebuzzer.
Clippers 106, Hawks 93
Amir Coffey matched his career high of 21 points and helped Los Angeles endits three-game losing streak with a win over visiting Atlanta. Coffey, playing on a two-way contract, was 8-for-12 from the field and tied another career high with five 3-pointers. He added five rebounds and three assists. Six other Clippers players scored in double figures, including veteran Serge Ibaka with 16 points off the bench.
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Atlanta’s Trae Young scored 19 points and saw his franchise-record streak of 25-plus-point games end at 17. Young was 8-for-21 from the floor and only 1-for-6 from distance, with seven assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic also scored 19 points, one shy of his season high.
Wizards 102, Magic 100
Kyle Kuzma had 27 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, Bradley Beal scored 20 points and Washington sent host Orlando to its ninth consecutive defeat.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed 14 points for Washington and Daniel Gafford had 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Spencer Dinwiddie also had eight points and 10 assists. Washington overcame a terrific performance by Orlando’s Terrence Ross, who scored 16 of his 32 points in the third quarter. Ross continued his strong play since clearing COVID-19 protocol, making 13-of-20 shots in 31 minutes off the bench.
Nuggets 99, Thunder 95
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 18 rebounds and six assists to lead Denver to a win over host Oklahoma City.
Austin Rivers scored a season-high 22 off the bench, hitting six 3-pointers while Jeff Green added 16 and Barton 14 - eight of them in the first three minutes of the game.
Luguentz Dort led the Thunder with 14 points but was just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc. Josh Giddey had 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Oklahoma City had a season-high 29 assists.
Timberwolves 141, Rockets 123
Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 40 points, D’Angelo Russell chipped in 22 points and 10 assists, and Minnesota rolled to a win over host Houston for its fourth consecutive victory. Jarred Vanderbilt had a double-double of 21 points and 19 rebounds for Minnesota while Malik Beasley and Jaylen Nowell scored 13 and 11 points off the bench, respectively. Anthony Edwards chipped in 19 points and six assists.
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Christian Wood tallied a team-high 22 points for Houston. Rookie Josh Christopher, Garrison Mathews and K. J. Martin totalled 46 points in reserve.
Raptors 105, Pelicans 101
Fred VanVleet made two 3-pointers in the final two minutes and finished with 32 points as Toronto defeated visiting New Orleans.
Pascal Siakam added 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who extended their season-best winning streak to six games. OG Anunoby contributed 12 points.
Brandon Ingram scored 22 points for the Pelicans.
Mavericks 113, Bulls 99
Luka Doncic recorded a triple-double of 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, and host Dallas extended its winning streak to six games while snapping Chicago’s winning streak at nine. After a back-and-forth contest through the first three quarters, the Mavericks went on a 19-9 run to open the fourth quarter. That gave Dallas a double-digit-point lead it held the rest of the way and extended to as many as 18 points down the stretch.
Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith scored all 18 and 12 of their points on 3-pointers, keying Dallas’ 16-of-36 performance beyond the arc. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 20 points apiece, but Dallas held LaVine to 7-of-21 shooting.
Trail Blazers 103, Kings 88
Anfernee Simons scored 31 points and made seven 3-pointers while Jusuf Nurkic contributed 14 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists to lead Portland over visiting Sacramento.
Simons was 10 of 17 from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3-range, and also registered six assists. Nassir Little and Ben McLemore added 13 points apiece for Portland, which placed Norman Powell on the COVID-19 list prior to the contest.
Tyrese Haliburton recorded 17 points and nine assists and Alex Len added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings. De’Aaron Fox scored 14 points, Harrison Barnes had 13 and Buddy Hield tallied 10 for Sacramento, which has lost four straight games and 12 of 17.
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