Golden State Warriors feast on Atlanta Hawks

Los Angeles: Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant each scored 28 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-109 on Friday despite losing Curry in the second half to an ankle injury.Curry tallied 15 of his points in the final seven minutes of the second quarter, then left the game for good in the third after initially tweaking 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 picture I understand. I don’t think it’s going to be anything that will keep me out.”
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala made a clutch dunk in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to help seal the win. With Golden State ahead by three points, the Hawks took possession with a chance to tie the game. But Iguodala stripped the ball from a Hawks player then raced the length of the court for a slam dunk with five seconds left.

The play solidified the defending NBA champion Warriors’ 25th road win of 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 they had used a 9-0 burst to pull within two points with 20 seconds remaining.  Curry shot eight-of-15 from the field, four-of-nine from three-point range and made all eight of his free throws in 23 minutes of playing time.

Curry also hit his 200th three-point field goal of the season. He is the first player in league history to sink at least 200 threes in six different seasons.
Curry missed time earlier this season with a sprained right ankle and his 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.

Raptors win
Elsewhere, DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and reserve C.J. Miles chipped in 20 as the Toronto Raptors won their season-high fourth straight game on the road with a 102-95 win over the Washington Wizards.

Miles scored 11 points in the second half and was six of nine from beyond the arc as the Raptors’ reserves dominated the Wizards’ bench 50-15.
Eastern Conference leaders Toronto have won 10 of their last 11 contests. Otto Porter led Washington with 24 points on nine-of-12 shooting and Bradley Beal rebounded from an eight-point game on Wednesday against Golden State to finish with 23. In Milwaukee, Victor Oladipo had 21 points, and the Indiana Pacers nearly blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding off the Milwaukee Bucks for a 103-96 win.

Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook had 43 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 56 seconds to play, and the Oklahoma City Thunder scored the final 10 points of the game to escape with a 124-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

Westbrook also had 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder, who had lost three straight to Phoenix. Paul George scored 20 points.
Devin Booker had 39 points for the Suns and - at 21 years, 123 days - became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career points. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were younger.

Jazz victors
Rudy Gobert scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell also scored 26 points and Utah beat Minnesota in a game that featured three ejections as Jazz defeated Timberwolves 116-108.

Jae Crowder — who was thrown out not long after jawing with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau — and Derrick Favors added 15 points apiece for the Jazz. Utah beat the Timberwolves for the first time this season.

Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points for the Timberwolves and Jeff Teague added 25 before getting ejected for a flagrant foul on Ricky Rubio in Minnesota’s second straight loss.

Karl-Anthony Towns finished with just 13 points after picking up two technical fouls.