LOS ANGELES – Stephen Curry scored 46 points but said “everybody stepped up” as the Golden State Warriors rallied to stun the San Antonio Spurs 125-120 on Nov 12 as the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in another marquee National Basketball Association (NBA) matchup.
Nikola Jokic capped the night with a 55-point outburst that propelled the Denver Nuggets to a 130-116 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Curry scored 31 of his points in the second half as the Warriors handed the Spurs a first home defeat of the season, snapping San Antonio’s three-game winning streak despite triple-doubles from both Victor Wembanyama and teammate Stephon Castle.
Wembanyama delivered 31 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and Castle added 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
“They’re doing a lot of good. We just have to try to navigate some of the peaks and valleys. We’re just having too many lows... we just need to be more consistent,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson told ESPN of Wembanyama and Castle.
San Antonio led by 16 in the second quarter, but the Warriors cut the deficit to seven at half-time and powered to the lead in the third quarter.
Curry said that in the wake of a blowout loss to the Thunder on Nov 11 “everybody stepped up.”
“That third quarter is what we do,” he added. “Getting stops, pushing, creating easy offence, and thankfully I was able to knock a couple down.
“You know we didn’t really make a lot of shots in the first half, but I think everybody kept their confidence, their composure.”
Luka Doncic and the Lakers, meanwhile, got a reality check in Oklahoma City, falling 121-92 to the reigning champion Thunder.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander outdueled Doncic, scoring 30 points with five rebounds, nine assists and a pair of steals in the victory over a Lakers team that had won six of their previous seven games, despite the fact that they are still awaiting the season debut of superstar LeBron James.
James took part in his first full practice of the season on Nov 12, working with the G League’s South Bay Lakers. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has missed the first 11 games this season while dealing with sciatica on his right side.
Oklahoma City led by as many as 37 points. Gilgeous-Alexander and his fellow starters sat out the fourth quarter.
Doncic scored 19 points with seven rebounds and seven assists before he was pulled for the fourth quarter by Lakers coach J.J. Redick.
The Thunder improved their league-best record to 12-1 and Gilgeous-Alexander said the back-to-back wins over the Warriors and Lakers were a useful early-season measuring stick.
“We definitely got better the last two days and that’s the main goal,” he said.
Elsewhere, Denver’s three-time MVP Jokic scored 55 points with 12 rebounds and six assists in a ruthlessly efficient display.
Jokic connected on 18 of his 23 shots, including five of six from three-point range, adding a steal and a block as the Nuggets won their sixth straight.
He matched the league’s highest scoring performance of the season. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 55 in a double-overtime game against Indiana in October.
Jokic didn’t need any extra time. He scored 25 points in the first quarter and with eight in the second and 19 in the third had secured his fifth career game with 50 or more points before the final period. AFP, REUTERS
NBABasketball playersGolden State WarriorsSan Antonio SpursStephen Curry