Road Warriors sink Hawks, Curry tweaks ankle

Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant each scored 28 points as the Golden StateWarriors beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-109 on Friday despite losing Curryin the second half to an ankle injury.Curry tallied 15 of his points in the final seven minutes of the secondquarter, then left the game for good in the third after initiallytweaking his right ankle in the opening period.Curry played just six minutes in the third before sitting down for the rest of the contest.He said he doesn’t expect to miss much time going forward.“Basically their call,” Curry said. “Frustrating, but in the big pictureI understand. I don’t think it’s going to be anything that will keep meout.”Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala made a clutch dunk in the final secondsof the fourth quarter to help seal the win. With Golden State ahead bythree points, the Hawks took possession with a chance to tie the game.But Iguodala stripped the ball from a Hawks player then raced the lengthof the court for a slam dunk with five seconds left.The play solidified the defending NBA champion Warriors’ 25th road winof the season, giving them the best road record in the league (25-7).Atlanta rallied from an 18-point deficit. Prior to Iguodala’s dunk theyhad used a 9-0 burst to pull within two points with 20 secondsremaining. Curry shot eight-of-15 from the field, four-of-nine from three-pointrange and made all eight of his free throws in 23 minutes of playingtime.Curry also hit his 200th three-point field goal of the season. He is thefirst player in league history to sink at least 200 threes in sixdifferent seasons.Curry missed time earlier this season with a sprained right ankle andhis health would most likely be a factor in determining the Warriors’chances of winning back-to-back titles. His history of ankle injuries includes missing 13 games this season after spraining it on December 4th in New Orleans.Warriors coach Steve Kerr said they don’t want to take any chances with Curry’s health.“He wanted to stay in but we didn’t want him to stay in just because of the potential to make it worse,” Kerr said.Russell Westbrook had 43 points and 14 rebounds and took over the gamedown the stretch when the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 13-pointdeficit for a 124-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Talking StickResort Arena on Friday.Westbrook, who finished two assists short of his 19th triple-double ofthe season, scored eight points in the final 1:32 to help the Thunderwin for the fifth time in the last six games.Devin Booker had 39 points and eight assists and Josh Jackson and TJWarren had 19 points apiece for the Suns, who have lost 11 of 12. Theybroke a 10-game losing streak with a victory in Memphis on Wednesday.Westbrook tied the game at 116 on a layup with 1:32 left, and his3-pointer gave the Thunder a 119-116 lead with 55.9 seconds remaining.After Jackson missed a long 3-pointer, Westbrook missed two shots butgot the offensive rebound both times. The Thunder called a timeout with22.5 seconds left.Westbrook was fouled and made one of two free throws with 18.2 secondsremaining, and he sealed the game on a dunk after the Thunder strippedBooker at the other end.The Suns have lost 19 of 22 since beating Oklahoma City in Phoenix onJan. 7. The teams meet in the final game of the regular-season seriesWednesday in Oklahoma City.Paul George had 20 points and Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and eightrebounds for the Thunder, who have won 14 of 21 while competing for aplayoff spot in the tight Western Conference.Westbrook remains three triple-doubles short of becoming the fourthplayer in NBA history to reach 100. Jason Kidd (107) is third.Booker tied a season high with six 3-pointers, and he has scored 39, 34,40, 30, 27 and 28 points in his last six games while making 23 threesafter missing the four previous games with a hip injury.Suns center Alex Len had seven points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots. The Suns made 11 of 22 3-pointers.Booker and Westbrook staged a tug-of-war in the first half, which ended with the Suns holding a 67-60 lead. Booker had 21 points, eight assists and four rebounds while making 9 of12 field goal attempts. Westbrook had 19 points, seven rebounds andfour assists while making 7 of 12 shots from the field.Elsewhere, DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and reserve CJ Miles chippedin 20 as the Toronto Raptors won their season-high fourth straight gameon the road with a 102-95 win over the Washington Wizards.Miles scored 11 points in the second half and was six of nine frombeyond the arc as the Raptors’ reserves dominated the Wizards’ bench50-15.Eastern Conference leaders Toronto have won 10 of their last 11 contests.Otto Porter led Washington with 24 points on nine-of-12 shooting andBradley Beal rebounded from an eight-point game Wednesday against GoldenState to finish with 23.In Milwaukee, Victor Oladipo had 21 points, andthe Indiana Pacers nearly blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarterbefore holding off the Milwaukee Bucks for a 103-96 win.