The Associated Press
NEW YORK—Golden State’s first game against the Nets went down to the wire—and the rematch seemed headed the same way.
Then with one of his electrifying flurries, Stephen Curry changed things in a hurry.
Curry scored 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the Warriors ran their NBA-record start to 22-0 by beating Brooklyn 114-98 last night.
Coming off consecutive 40-point games, Curry was having a relatively quiet and even puzzling night—he missed his first three free throws—before helping the Warriors regain control against a team that nearly beat them this season and looked capable of finishing the job this time.
“Just trying to see if I could get some room and figure out a way to impact the game,” Curry noted.
“And things started to click.”
They sure did as Curry scored 11 points and threw a lob for Festus Ezeli’s slam during a 15-4 run to close the third quarter.
“That’s what great players can do. Plus, he has a great team,” said Nets’ coach Lionel Hollins.
“He doesn’t have to go out there and do it all the time,” Hollins added.
“Last night [Saturday] he had 44. Two nights ago when they were in Charlotte, he had 43.
“When he needs to, he can and when he doesn’t need to, he takes a backseat to those guys.”
Draymond Green added 22 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
Klay Thompson scored 21 for the Warriors, who won their 26th in a row overall in the regular season—one behind the 2012-13 Miami Heat for the second-longest streak in NBA history.
Down 75-70 with 3:10 left in the third, the Warriors soon were ahead 96-85 early in the fourth.
“It’s one of our biggest strengths, is that we’re never out of a game and we’re always one little run away from putting a game away,” said coach Luke Walton.
The Warriors equalled another NBA record—tying the 1969-70 N.Y. Knicks for the best road start at 12-0.
They next visit Indiana on Tuesday.
Curry, meanwhile, made a three-pointer in his 86th-consecutive road game during the regular season.
He can match the NBA record Rashard Lewis set from 2007-09 with one tomorrow.
Thaddeus Young had 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Brook Lopez scored 18, for the Nets, who had their four-game home winning streak snapped.
Lopez missed from point-blank range at the regulation buzzer on Nov. 14 and the Warriors went on to beat the Nets in overtime at home.
Walton said the Warriors let the Nets have too good a start in that one, when Brooklyn scored 36 points in the first quarter.
This time, Golden State bolted out to a 9-0 lead and the only reason its 30-16 advantage after one quarter wasn’t bigger was because the Warriors were just 5-for-14 at the free throw line—with Curry missing all three.
Elsewhere in the NBA, Memphis edged Phoenix 95-93, Detroit beat the L.A. Lakers 111-91, Dallas downed Washington 116-104, and Oklahoma City shaded Sacramento 98-95.
