MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kevin Durant had the best shooting night of his career to help the Golden State Warriors take the outright Western Conference lead.
Durant and Stephen Curry each scored 28 points, with Durant going 12 of 13 from the field, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 118-103 on Wednesday night.
Curry also had 10 rebounds, and DeMarcus Cousins added 16 points and nine rebounds. The Warriors broke a tie with idle Denver for the top spot in the West.
“We’re not looking at it. Obviously, it’s something, coming down the stretch of the season, you want to know what the matchups are looking like,” said Durant, who was unaware they regained first place. “Each game is important from top to bottom. From the eighth seed to the top, so you are going to take a peek at it, but you are not really writing it on a white board or looking at it.”
Jonas Valanciunas led Memphis with 27 points and 13 rebounds, and Mike Conley added 22 points to take the franchise’s career scoring lead and added eight assists. Bruno Caboclo had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Injuries to key Memphis players have shortened the rotation. Conley said the pace of the game finally caught up with the Grizzlies, contributing to fatigue in the fourth.
“They’re a team that moves so well without the ball,” Conley said about Golden State. “They’ve got so many weapons and just push the tempo. Eventually, it gets into your legs a little bit.”
THUNDER 107,
PACERS 99
OKLAHOMA CITY — Paul George scored 31 points against his former team, and Oklahoma City had a 24-0 run in the third quarter to pull away from Indiana.
Steven Adams had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook added 17 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his 29th triple-double of the season. The Thunder won for only the second time in seven games.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 points for Indiana, and Domantas Sabonis added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
WIZARDS 124,
SUNS 121
PHOENIX — Devin Booker became the youngest player in NBA history with consecutive 50-point games, but his latest scoring binge was wasted once again by last-place Phoenix in a loss to Washington.
Thomas Bryant’s three-point play with 2.8 seconds left put the Wizards ahead for good in a back-and-forth game. Bryant caught Bradley Beal’s pass off a baseline drive and dropped in the winning layup while getting fouled. After he added the free throw, Phoenix had one more chance to tie, but Troy Daniels missed a 3-pointer from the corner just before the final buzzer.
The 22-year-old Booker finished with 50 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns, with the worst record in the Western Conference at 17-59, dropped their fifth straight. Booker scored 59 points in a 125-92 loss Monday night at Utah.
It was the first time a Phoenix player reached 50 in back-to-back games. Tom Chambers had been the only member of the Suns to score even 40 in successive games.
Beal and Jabari Parker had 28 points apiece for the Wizards, who snapped a five-game skid. Bryant added 18 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
TRAIL BLAZERS 118, BULLS 98
CHICAGO — Seth Curry scored a season-high 20 points and Portland beat Chicago.
Still shaken by Jusuf Nurkic’s gruesome leg injury two nights earlier in a double-overtime victory over Brooklyn that secured Portland’s sixth straight playoff appearance, the Trail Blazers won their fifth in a row even though Damian Lillard scored a season-low 11.
Chicago’s Shaquille Harrison set career highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
JAZZ 115,
LAKERS 100
SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick Favors scored 20 and Joe Ingles nearly posted his first triple-double to power Utah over depleted Los Angeles.
Jae Crowder scored 16 points and the balanced Jazz, with seven players in double figures, won for the eighth time in nine games.
Six weeks ago, Ingles went public with the news that his 2-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. Since then, he has been a vocal advocate for funding and awareness. Playing on Autism Awareness Night, he set a career high with 14 assists and added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Kyle Kuzma paced the Lakers with 21 points. JaVale McGee had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Los Angeles had won consecutive games for the first time since January but wasn’t competitive from the start without LeBron James in this one. James sat out after he had 23 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds Tuesday night against Washington. He’s been dealing with a swollen knee and sore groin.
