Stephen Curry saved 10 of his 20 points for a fourth-quarter rally that enabled the Golden State Warriors to overtake the host Phoenix Suns 117-107 Friday night for their 11th consecutive road win.
Phoenix lost its 13th straight despite leading by as many as 17 points in the first quarter and 94-88 after a hoop by Kelly Oubre Jr. with 8:35 left in the game.
The Warriors scored the next 13 points, with DeMarcus Cousins contributing two dunks to a flurry that produced a 101-94 lead with 5:46 to go.
The Suns got as close as 101-98 on a Richaun Holmes tip-in with 4:58 to
play, but Curry countered with a 3-pointer, and Phoenix never got closer than four again.
After shooting just 2-for-10 in the first three quarters, Curry finished 6-for-17.
The Warriors won for the 14th time in their past 15 games despite losing Draymond Green at the start of the fourth period after he drew his second technical foul.
Green finished with 13 points in 26 minutes.
Klay Thompson led Golden State with 25 points, almost half of them coming on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Kevin Durant added 21 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds, while Cousins finished with 18 points.
Curry also found time for a team-high seven assists for Golden State, which shot 50.6 percent from the floor.
Oubre (25 points, 12 rebounds) and Deandre Ayton (23 points, 12 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Phoenix, which lost its fifth straight home game.
Mikal Bridges (19 points), Josh Jackson (19) and Holmes (10) also scored in double figures for the Suns, who shot 38.6 percent on field-goal attempts.
The Suns stunned the two-time defending champs with a 26-9, game-opening flurry that featured three dunks by Ayton.
The Warriors clawed back to go ahead 41-39 on a Thompson 3-pointer with 6:33 left in the second quarter. Golden State went on to lead 60-53 by half’s end.
The Suns did the rallying in the third quarter, drawing even at 64-all on a free throw by Ayton with 7:49 left in the period.
Phoenix led 85-82 after the third, then began the fourth quarter with a Bridges free throw after Green drew his game-ending second technical between periods.
Green also got whistled for a technical in the first quarter.
Davis wins over Pelicans fans
Anthony Davis scored 32 points to turn jeers to cheers on Friday, leading the New Orleans Pelicans to a 122-117 NBA victory over Minnesota in his first game since asking to be traded.
The Pelicans didn’t ship out their superstar by Thursday’s trade deadline, and with the finger injury that had sidelined him healed he was back in the Pelicans starting lineup.
Boos from the home fans greeted his pre-game introduction, and continued whenever he touched the ball in the early going. Davis shook off the awkwardness, scoring 10 quick points and finishing the first half with 24.
He grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots in 25 minutes on the court.
“It just feels good to be back on the floor playing the game that I love,” Davis said.
“I’m going to be here the rest of the year. My job is to play basketball and that’s all I want to do.”
He sat out the entire fourth quarter
as the Timberwolves made a late push, closing the gap to 114-112 on a dunk from Karl-Anthony Towns with 39 seconds left.
Towns finished with 32 points for Minnesota, but Jrue Holiday, Kenrich Williams and Julius Randle got the job done in the waning seconds.
Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said the decision not to send Davis back into the game when things got close was to do with his lack of recent playing time.
“I was not going have him, first game back, play 38-40 minutes,” Gentry said. “That’s why he didn’t go back in the game.”
Stephen Curry (right) of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball against Deandre Ayton (left) and Tyler Johnson (centre) of the Phoenix Suns during the first half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. (Getty Images/AFP)
