National Basketball Association roundup: Warriors improve to 21-0 as Curry scores 44

“They wouldn’t be 22-0 if they weren’t a good team”.

Lowry had a career-high 41 points for Toronto.

MIAMI – Dwyane Wade scored 19 points and took the fourth quarter off, Tyler Johnson added 19 more and the Miami Heat took advantage of Cleveland’s decision to hold out LeBron James on the way to beating the Cavaliers 99-84 on Saturday night.

TORONTO (AP) – Stephen Curry likes playing in Toronto, and it shows.

The Raptors might have made this even more interesting had Lowry and DeRozan hit their free throws in the final minute.

Another Curry treble with 2:33 to play put the Warriors ahead 102-100. The Warriors opened up a 20-point lead, 109-89, on a Draymond Green three with 4:22 left.

Fresh off his 40-point effort in Charlotte on Wednesday, Curry connected on his first five shots, including four 3-pointers, for 14 points as Golden State jumped to an 11-point lead after 12 minutes.

Curry made both his free throws and Toronto turned over the ball with 3.3 seconds to play.

Draymond Green finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors.

Brooklyn fell to 1-9 that day but has gone a more respectable 4-5 since, although it offered little resistance in a 17-point loss at NY on Friday.TV: 6 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), YES (Brooklyn)ABOUT THE WARRIORS (21-0): Two of Golden State’s three wins on the road trip have come by exactly three points as opponents line up looking to be the one to end the streak.

Guard Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Festus Ezeli started in place of the injured Andrew Bogut, contributing eight points and 10 rebounds while teammate Klay Thompson drilled 6 three-pointers, finishing with a total of 26 points.

Curry, for whom at least half of the 17,732 in attendance appeared to be rooting, had 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter.

Third quarter, Raps getting help from their bench, Lowry to Bebe Nogueira for the dunk. Brooklyn went on a 16-0 run over the next 2:53 to take the lead. Warriors lead 59-49. The Warriors took an 87-80 lead into the fourth quarter. While the Warriors are at the top of the league looking down, the Nets are close to the bottom looking up with a 5-15 record.

The Nets led 76-72 at the 2:44 mark of the third, and that was when the game changed. “We definitely made it a game for a bit, we’ve just got to win”. James was given the night off to rest, the first game he has missed this season. The Warriors defeated the Raptors 115-110 in the first meeting between the teams November 17 at Oracle Arena…. Toronto continues a six-game home stand with games against the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers in their next four outings. Forward Thaddeus Young scored 25 points and center Brook Lopez added 18 for Brooklyn, which lost by eight in overtime on November 14 in Golden State after Lopez missed a potential game-winner in regulation.