LOS ANGELES — Klay Thompson set an NBA record by making his first 10 attempts from 3-point range, scoring 44 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 130-111 on Monday night to match a season high with their eighth consecutive victory.
Thompson finished 10 of 11 from beyond the arc as the two-time defending champions won their seventh straight road game. The star guard had 23 points in the third quarter, connecting on seven 3s as the Warriors stretched their lead to 36 points. He finally missed from deep late in the period.
Kevin Durant added 20 points and Stephen Curry had 11 points and 12 assists, going 2 of 10 from 3-point range for Golden State.
Emblematic of his quiet offensive night, Curry came dribbling in alone for a fast-break dunk, but slipped and fell, drawing gasps from the crowd. He scrambled to his feet, got the ball back and put up an air ball.
Ivica Zubac led Los Angeles with 18 points. Brandon Ingram added 17 and Kyle Kuzma had 16.
The Lakers were without their primary ball-handlers and playmakers in LeBron James, Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo. They fell to 5-9 without James, whose left groin strain has forced him out for the longest stretch of his 16-year career.
Coming off a split in two straight overtime games, the Lakers kept it close in the first half, trailing 65-55 at the break.
But Thompson fired up a 3-pointer — the first of Golden State’s nine in the third — and the Warriors went on to outscore the Lakers 45-25 to lead 110-80 going into the fourth.
Golden State’s sharpshooting silenced the crowd and allowed the Warriors to sit four of their five starters in the fourth, leaving DeMarcus Cousins in for a bit until he also went to the bench.
Cousins had eight points, nine rebounds, five assists and four fouls in his second game for the Warriors since being out nearly a year with a severe knee injury.
The Warriors have made 141 3-pointers to 93 for opponents during their eight-game winning streak.
76ERS 121, ROCKETS 93
PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid had 32 points and 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past fellow MVP contender James Harden and Houston.
Harden, selected Western Conference player of the week earlier in the day, finished with 37 points — giving him 20 straight games with at least 30.
Embiid’s 24 first-half points helped Philadelphia to a 65-50 halftime lead, and he punctuated an entertaining opening 24 minutes by pinning Harden’s layup attempt with 7.5 seconds left for a crowd-pleasing block. The duo had to be separated with 38.7 seconds left in the half, with each being issued a technical, after Harden took exception to Embiid’s foul on him.
The 76ers broke the game open in a dominant third quarter as they outscored Houston 29-13 to take a 94-63 advantage into the fourth.
CELTICS 107, HEAT 99
BOSTON — Kyrie Irving had 26 points and 10 assists, Al Horford added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Boston beat Miami for its fourth straight victory.
Irving has had 20 or more points and 10 or more assists in 11 games, the first Celtics player to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who also had 11 in 1986-87.
Jayson Tatum added 19 points and Marcus Morris 17 for the Celtics, who won their ninth straight at home and improved to 18-5 at TD Garden.
Derrick Jones Jr. and Dion Waiters led the Heat with 18 points apiece.
BUCKS 116, MAVERICKS 106
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and Milwaukee beat Dallas.
Eric Bledsoe had 21 points and Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 for the Bucks, who have won five straight and 12 of their last 14 to improve to 34-12 overall.
Luka Doncic had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Dallas, which has lost four in a row. Jalen Brunson had 16 points.
After trailing at the half, the Bucks built a double-digit lead in the third quarter and led 92-84 heading to the fourth.
TRAIL BLAZERS 109, JAZZ 104
SALT LAKE CITY — Damian Lillard scored 26 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 17 in the third quarter to lift Portland past Utah.
In a matchup between two of the NBA’s hottest teams, the Blazers made 50 percent of their shots and piled up 30 assists to snap Utah’s six-game winning streak.
Nurkic finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six blocks. CJ McCollum added 14 points for Portland, which has won seven of nine.
Donovan Mitchell continued his high-scoring streak with 36 points for Utah. Jae Crowder scored 15 while Rudy Gobert had 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
PELICANS 105, GRIZZLIES 85
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic scored 21 points, Jahlil Okafor and Julius Randle had 20, and balanced New Orleans beat Memphis without injured star Anthony Davis.
Okafor set a season high for points and added 10 rebounds filling in for Davis. Randle had 12 rebounds and Holiday grabbed 11 as New Orleans out-rebounded the Grizzlies 50-35. It was the Pelicans’ first game since announcing Davis would miss 1-2 weeks with a left index finger sprain.
Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 22 points, while Mike Conley added 20 and eight assists for Memphis, which lost its sixth straight and 12th in the last 13.
NETS 123, KINGS 94
NEW YORK — D’Angelo Russell had 31 points and eight assists, and surging Brooklyn won its fourth straight game by running away from Sacramento in the second half.
Russell, announced as the Eastern Conference player of the week shortly before the game, made seven 3-pointers. He hit all four 3-point attempts and was 5 for 6 overall in the third quarter, fueling a 22-4 spurt that launched the Nets into the lead for good.
Joe Harris added 19 points and rookie Rodions Kurucs had 16 for the Nets, who won for the 17th time in 22 games.
Reserve guard Bogdan Bogdanovic had 22 points and 11 assists for the Kings, but starters Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox both had quiet games.
THUNDER 127, KNICKS 109
NEW YORK — Paul George scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook had 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as Oklahoma City beat New York.
George and Westbrook both sat out the fourth quarter. Dennis Schroder added 17 points for the Thunder while both Jerami Grant and Abdel Nader each had 16.
The Knicks have lost six in a row and 14 of 15. They have dropped nine straight at Madison Square Garden.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 23 points. Allonzo Trier had 16 and Emmanuel Mudiay scored 14.
WIZARDS 101, PISTONS 87
WASHINGTON — Trevor Ariza scored 20 points, Otto Porter Jr. added 19 and Washington turned in its best defensive performance this season in beating Detroit.
The Wizards held the Pistons to 30 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and never let their lead dip below 10 points in the second. Detroit’s 87 points were the fewest by a Washington opponent this season.
Seven Wizards players scored in double figures, including Bradley Beal with 16.
Blake Griffin led the Pistons with 29 points and nine rebounds. Detroit has lost back-to-back games and 10 of its last 14.
MAGIC 122, HAWKS 103
ATLANTA — Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic scored 29 points apiece to lead Orlando past Atlanta in the season’s first matchup between the Southeast Division rivals.
Vucevic had 14 rebounds and Fournier had seven assists as Orlando snapped a three-game losing streak.
Dewayne Dedmon led Atlanta with 24 points on the holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and in the city where the civil rights leader was born.
Trae Young had 21 points for the Hawks. John Collins had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
BULLS 104, CAVALIERS 88
CLEVELAND — Zach LaVine scored 25 points and Chicago broke a 10-game losing streak, beating Cleveland in a meeting of teams that began the day with the worst records in the NBA.
Chicago never trailed and has won all three games this season against Cleveland, which has lost 16 of 17 overall.
Bobby Portis had 15 points while Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn each added 13 for the Bulls.
Rookie Collin Sexton scored 18 points and Ante Zizic, who is seeing playing time because of injuries in Cleveland’s frontcourt, had 13.