ABOUT THE MAGIC (25-30): While Orlando had few issues piling up the points in Philadelphia, coach Scott Skiles knew it was an incomplete effort that will not translate when the level of competition soars Thursday night.
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The Splash Brothers dynamic no longer defines the Golden State Warriors, but every now and then, it revisits to save the Warriors. Take the Warriors to stay hot and pull away late for yet another win.
Stephen Curry set one National Basketball Association record on Thursday, while the Golden State Warriors continued their quest for another. However since the start of the 2013-14 season, he’s had only three such games – he’s now hit a 3 in 203 of his last 204 appearances – and he’s never taken eight or more 3-point attempts in a game without making at least one.
The way he makes them is totally different from Kyle.
It’s a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don’t quandary for the league, but it’s one that Curry uniquely poses. “He carried us tonight and we are witnessing greatness”. He told “Mike & Mike” that while “Golden State and some other teams play very well”, they’re not being forced to employ complex offensive schemes. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. En route to 42-points, Curry sank two deep, contested 3s within the last 1:10 of play.
Bulls 109, Wizards 104 – Taj Gibson and E’Twaun Moore each scored 17 points, Tony Snell added 16 and a thrown-together roster Chicago backups beat visiting Washington.
The Magic, bannered by the likes of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier, are looking to improve their record and put up more victories this time around. Assists-Golden State 35 (Green, Curry 8), Orlando 23 (Payton 6). But in the end they lost 118-112, because right now Stephen Curry is the best player in the world.
The reigning MVP topped 50 points for the third time this season, the first to do it that many times since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in 2008-09.
Fittingly, the postgame talk focused on Curry’s unbelievable night. That is like a layup to him.
Curry now has 266 3-pointers this season, leaving him only 20 shy of the single-season record he set last season.
“It’s just pretty much executing what we do”, Curry said. One of them is getting to play with LaVine, the two-time victor of the league’s slam-dunk contest. “Whatever we wanted to do to him didn’t work”.
“So if you work on something and you do it in the games, that’s why it doesn’t surprise his teammates or coaching staff. He works on it”. But then the Warriors showed why they’re the best team in the National Basketball Association.
Curry had 22 at the break and lit up the Magic for 24 in the third quarter, including a banked-in, buzzer-beating three-pointer from just over mid-court stripe.
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Westbrook also had 13 assists and seven rebounds as the Thunder scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter and weathered a 14-0 Dallas run to avoid matching a season high with a third straight loss in their first game since a blowout defeat at home against Cleveland.
