With a Super Bowl-sized stage, a celebrity-filled crowd and two championship contenders on the floor, it felt more like late May in Oracle Arena than early February.
Stephen Curry was up to the task.
Curry scored 26 points and keyed a strong closing stretch that sent the Golden State Warriors to their 41st straight regular-season home win, 116-108 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
“This was very playoff-like for sure,” Curry said. The atmosphere, just the intensity, the adrenaline down the stretch. That’s what you expect for sure. It was good to get that feeling and execute.”
Curry scored three baskets and assisted on two more in a closing 12-4 run that gave the Warriors (46-4) their ninth straight win to match the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers for the best record after 50 games. Golden State moved within three wins of tying the Chicago Bulls (1995-96) for the longest home winning streak in NBA history.
Harrison Barnes added 19 points and Klay Thompson scored 18 for Golden State.
Kevin Durant had 40 points and 14 rebounds and Russell Westbrook added 27 points and 12 assists for the Thunder, who had won five straight and 12 of 13 but still trail Golden State and San Antonio in the Western Conference.
“Man we’re not scared of either one of these teams,” Durant said.
“We’re going to play our game. Nobody in this locker room is scared. We have to play them. If we want to get to where we want to get to, we have to play them. We’re not ducking anybody.”
One day before he plans to watch good friend Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers take on Denver in the Super Bowl at nearby Levi’s Stadium, Curry helped the Warriors break out to a 20-point lead in the second quarter despite making just one 3-pointer on the night.(The Associated Press)
Link: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002734269
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