Stephen Curry erupts for 56, sinks 12 3s to rally Warriors
ORLANDO, Fla. — Stephen Curry scored a season-high 56 points, making 12 3-pointers and outscoring Orlando by himself in the third quarter of another astounding performance, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 121-115 victory over the Magic on Thursday night.
Curry was 12-for-19 beyond the arc in his NBA-record 26th career game with 10 or more 3-pointers. He was 16-of-25 overall and made all 12 of his free throws in Golden State’s fifth straight victory.
Curry’s 25 shots were tied for the second-fewest in a 55-point game in NBA history, trailing only James Harden, who did it with 24 shots for the Houston Rockets in 2019, according to ESPN Research.
“I think the fans here tonight, even the Magic fans, they know they’re witnessing greatest shooter ever, and one of the greatest performers ever,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s not just the shots going in, it’s just the fluidity, the beauty of his movement and motion and his audacity, the shots that he’s willing to take. He’s an incredible performer and he put on quite a show tonight.”
With the Warriors trailing by 17, Curry ended the first half with a shot from well beyond half court to keep the Warriors within 66-52. He then erupted for 22 points in the third quarter as Golden State opened a five-point lead. Orlando managed 21 points in the period.
With Curry on the bench, the Warriors held the Magic scoreless for the first 3:08 of the fourth quarter, stretching their lead to 12.
Quinten Post came off the Golden State bench with 18 points and five rebounds, including 10 straight Warriors points in the second quarter. Draymond Green had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the Warriors’ seventh win in eight games since acquiring Jimmy Butler in a trade on Feb. 6. Butler had five points on 1-of-7 shooting with seven assists in 32 minutes.
Curry’s career scoring high is 62 points, set on Jan. 3, 2021, against Portland. His career high for 3-pointers in a game is 13.
Paolo Banchero scored 41 points for the Magic and Franz Wagner had 27.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES — Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards faces an automatic one-game suspension after picking up two technical fouls in Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, giving him 16 this season.
Edwards will have to sit out Friday’s road game against the Utah Jazz unless one of his technicals against the Lakers gets rescinded upon review by the league office.
Sixteen technical fouls triggers a one-game suspension. Every two technical fouls after that result in another one-game suspension.
The slate is wiped clean for the playoffs, when seven technicals result in a one-game suspension.
Edwards is the first player to receive 16 technical fouls before March since DeMarcus Cousins in 2016-17, according to ESPN Research.
Edwards was ejected Thursday after drawing his second technical foul of the night with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter.
As Edwards walked toward the tunnel, he tossed the ball into the crowd, drawing a delay-of-game warning.
Edwards and Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt were called for double technical fouls when they exchanged shoves at the end of the first quarter.
Edwards’ second technical occurred after he complained about a no-call when he felt he got fouled on a drive.
PHOENIX — Zion Williamson had his first career triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns 124-116 on Thursday night for their third straight victory.
Williamson’s 11 assists tied a career high. He made 13 of 17 shots and joined Steven Adams (2021) as the only Pelicans players with 75% shooting in a triple-double.
“It’s dope,” Williamson said of finally achieving a triple-double. “It’s funny because there were so many times where I feel like it could have happened, but I never like forced the issue on it. But tonight, my teammates were like, ‘Nah, got to get it tonight.’
“So I got to thank my coach [Willie Green] and my teammates.”
It’s been an up-and-down season for Williamson, who has appeared in only 22 of New Orleans’ 59 games and also was suspended for one game last month due to repeated violations of team policies, the tipping point coming when he was late for a team flight.
He said Thursday night’s performance was a reminder of just how good he can be.
“Absolutely. These nights I think are definitely big for the confidence and just a reminder in who I am,” he said.
CJ McCollum added 19 points in the opener of a two-game set in Phoenix to help New Orleans match its longest winning streak of the season.
Phoenix climbed out of an 18-point hole in the first half and had a 91-88 lead after three quarters. But the Pelicans dominated most of the fourth, and Williamson made two tough buckets in the paint down the stretch to seal the win.
New Orleans improved to 5-24 on the road this season. All five starters scored in double figures, including Trey Murphy III, who had 18 points and made five 3-pointers. Yves Missi added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The fading Suns have lost seven of their past eight. Devin Booker had 36 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Kevin Durant scored 28 points.
New Orleans scored the first 13 points of the second quarter to take a 48-30 lead, but the Suns rallied for a 62-61 advantage by halftime. Booker scored 17 points before the break.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
ESPN
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Someday, Stephen Curry will stop doing Stephen Curry things. But that day was not Thursday.
The Golden State Warriors star posted his latest incinerating performance against the Orlando Magic, finishing with 56 points and 12 3-pointers. Both numbers are season highs for the former MVP, and he finished two 3-pointers short of former teammate Klay Thompson’s single-game record of 14.
That included a buzzer-beater from behind the logo to end the first half.
In total, Curry shot 16-of-25 from the field and 12-of-19 from deep, plus four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 121-115 win for the Warriors. He was one 3-pointer shy of tying his career high.
Curry didn’t really get going until the Magic built a 17-point lead midway through the second quarter. To that point, Curry had five points.
By the end of the quarter, Curry had 21, then led a 30-9 run out of halftime to build a lead the Warriors didn’t relinquish.
In ripping apart the Magic, Curry made a moderate amount of history. It was his 45th career game with at least nine 3-pointers, which is as many as the next five players combined. And it was his ninth 50-point game since turning 30, the most in NBA history (next closest: Wilt Chamberlain with seven).
It was a big enough game that Curry wanted to keep the game ball, which he gave to his mother, who was in attendance.
Beyond Curry, Thursday’s win was the Warriors’ fifth straight and their seventh in eight games with Jimmy Butler in the lineup. Trading for the disgruntled Miami Heat star was supposed to give them a two-way standout who could both facilitate alongside Curry and provide his own scoring, and that’s what’s happened so far.
Butler scored only five on 1-of-7 shooting, but he chipped in seven assists while helping out plenty on defense. When Curry is shooting like he did, that’s all the Warriors need to be an absolute nightmare to stop, as Butler said after the game:
“It makes everyone want to be great on the defensive side, so we can get him the ball back and watch him do something incredible.”
“In a weird way, isn’t it kind of expected by now?”
The Warriors have a solid chance to up that winning streak as well, as they play the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets before what should be a solid test against the New York Knicks on March 4.
Stephen Curry flashes historic 56-point performance to lead Warriors past Magic
NBA
