by OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry scored 26 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-108 on Saturday night to stay undefeated at home this season.
Curry, who played a team-high 38 minutes, shot 10-of-26 from the field and had 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals in front of a number of superstars who were also in town to attend Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos.
Curry also plans to go and watch his good friend Cam Newton in action with the Panthers on Sunday.
The reining, MVP, however, was just 1-for-9 from 3-point range on the night for the Warriors (46-4), who collected their 41st straight regular-season home victory at ORACLE Arena.
CURRY LOVED THE FEELINGS
“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.”
Harrison Barnes added 19 on 8-of-14 shooting to go with four rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 18 points, Marreese Speights ended with 15 points off the bench and Draymond Green finished with 14 rebounds, nine points and six assists for Golden State, which won their ninth straight game to tie with the Philadelphia 76ers 1966-67 squad for the best record all-time after 50 games.
The defending champions also moved within three wins of matching the Chicago Bulls’ 1995-96 record for the longest home winning streak in NBA history.
Oklahoma City opened the contest scoring the first nine baskets and went up 20-13 with 6:28 left in the first quarter, before the Warriors went on the move to lead 36-31 at the end of the first quarter and then 73-59 at halftime.
“I thought it was great for our team to go through a game like that,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s been a while since we had to get stops and be solid down the stretch offensively.
“On a night when it wasn’t quite his night, I thought Steph was just brilliant the last couple of minutes.”
Kevin Durant paced the Oklahoma City Thunder with 40 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks while Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, 12 assists and three steals in the defeat.
Enes Kanter collected a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds and Steven Adams added 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for the Thunder (38-14), who had won five straight and 12 of 13 overall.
As a team, the Warriors, who built a 20-point lead in the second quarter, shot 49.5 percent from the floor, but was only 7-of-26 from 3-point range for 26.9 percent.
THUNDER NOT RUNNING SCARED
The Thunder remain behind the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference standings, but Durant isn’t intimidated.
“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.”
Durant and the Thunder return to action on Monday on the road in Phoenix, while Curry and the Warriors will play host Houston on Tuesday.
NBA Scores, Results and Box Scores
Saturday, February 6
WARRIORS 116, THUNDER 108
SPURS 106, LAKERS 102
CAVALIERS 99, PELICANS 94
TRAIL BLAZERS 96, ROCKETS 79
TIMBERWOLVES 112, BULLS 105
PACERS 112, PISTONS 104
MAVERICKS 114, GRIZZLIES 110, OT
HORNETS 108, WIZARDS 104
JAZZ 98, SUNS 89
76ERS 103, NETS 98
