Warriors Cruise To Win Against Nets, Now At 22-0

Miami was also led by point guard Goran Dragic, who had 17 points and eight assists.

Every Warriors reserve that played more than 10 minutes made a positive contribution, from big men Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights to wing Andre Iguodala to guards Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa.

The Warriors held a slim 79-78 lead with 1:25 to go in the third quarter but Golden State unleashed an 8-0 blast entering the final period.

Golden State suffered a scare in the second quarter when Curry left the court clutching his face following a collision with DeMarre Carroll’s shoulder after hitting a layup, forcing the Warriors to burn a 20-second timeout. “Thankfully I made one more play”, Curry said of Lowry.

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

Thompson added 26 points for the Warriors, while Draymond Green had 16 points and nine rebounds. He also grabbed 18 rebounds and forced DeMarcus Cousins to foul out with only 14 points.

DeRozan added 16 points for the Raptors who have lost two in a row. Center Hassan Whiteside added seven points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Howard scored 22 points on 7 of 9 shooting. But the ex-Warrior shot just 3 of 13 from the field on Sunday for 11 points.

“It seems like he gets 40 points quietly”, Thompson said of Curry. The Mavericks took the lead early in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth. The lead was down to 76-73 when Nogueira put in a dunk with 2:52 left in the third quarter.

Rudy Gay scored five consecutive points, putting Sacramento up by two with about five minutes left. Curry’s jumper gave the Warriors an 83-79 lead after three quarters.

Fourth quarter, Lowry to Nogueira for the dunk. However, he missed a free throw and the Warriors led by one.

When the Nets’ season concludes, and what many anticipate will be a mostly forgettable campaign fades from memory with the passage of time, at the very least, there will always be this: They held a second-half lead against the unbeaten Warriors. A USA Today analysis comparing Golden State to the NBA’s all-time greatest teams, including the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, concluded that the Warriors outpace the others in eight out of sixteen major statistical categories.

On the second anniversary of the death of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri hosted “The Giant of Africa”, an evening-long celebration of Mandela’s life and legacy.

James was rested for the trip to Miami – the earliest the four-time MVP has missed a game due to rest purposes – and the Heat took full advantage as the Cavs suffered a third consecutive defeat.

This was a Nets team that came within a Brook Lopez shot from point-blank range of upsetting the Warriors at Oracle Arena three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Warriors will aim to further re-establish the National Basketball Association record for the best start in the regular season with road games against the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Bucks in their next four.