Clutch Curry leads Warriors to close win in Miami

Golden State guard Stephen Curry leaps up as he celebrates a 3-point shot during the second half against Miami.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) warms up from half court prior to a game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena.

Drilling a 3-pointer from a few feet behind the arc, Curry tied Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver’s record by making a 3 in 127 straight games.

Curry made a pair of free throws with 18.5, and soon the Warriors walked off a victor for the 51st time in 56 games this season. He has made at least one in 202 of his past 203 games. Curry and Thompson combined to score 75 of Golden State’s 118 points.

“Steph is a lot better”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

The Warriors slowly crawled back into the game in the second and third quarters, and traded the lead back-and-forth in the fourth quarter, on the strength of 17 of Klay Thompson’s 33 points.

The Warriors lead the league in three point accuracy and nobody does it better than Curry. Victor Oladipo finished with 22 and Evan Fournier added 21 for Orlando, which gave up 31 points apiece in the first three quarters. “He got us back into the game, got us the lead in the fourth quarter”.

“We are moving the ball and playing unselfish”, said Thompson.

Here’s how Steph Curry spent his pregame in Miami, with a young cancer-stricken fan from Niagara Falls. The advantage would have been much greater if not for Curry, who scored 14 points, including a 35-footer that beat the first-quarter buzzer.

I think 24-3 is very possible, if everything falls right for the Warriors, so that would mean 74-8 is possible.

No team has ever gone through a regular-season undefeated at home-but the Warriors and Spurs (currently 28-0 at home) have real shots at it this season.

Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 32 points for Miami, which got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Luol Deng.

In other games Denver Nuggets beat LA Clippers 87-81; Toronto Raptors edged Minnesota Timberwolves 114-104; the host Detroit Pistons pounded the league-worst Philadelphia 76ers 111-91; the Indiana Pacers edged the sliding New York Knicks 108-105; the short-handed Chicago Bulls topped the visiting Washington Wizards 109-104; and Memphis Grizzlies shot past the West-worst LA Lakers 128-119.

The Warriors’ victory in the clash of divisional leaders saw the National Basketball Association pacesetters improve to 51-5, while the Heat’s lead in the Southeast Division trimmed to 1-1/2 games. He added five more to his tally on a 42-point night, his ninth 40-point night this season which takes him ahead of James Harden, according to ESPN.