Clippers top Warriors as Stephen Curry leaves with injury

Ivica Zubac had 23 points, 18 rebounds and six assists and James Harden added 23 points and 11 assists to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Warriors 112-104 in Golden State’s home opener Sunday night.

Norman Powell had 20 points and Derrick Jones Jr. chipped in 18 for the Clippers, who saw a 13-point lead in the fourth trimmed to 101-100 on Andrew Wiggins’ 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining.

But Harden drove for a layup and Powell blocked Buddy Hield’s 3-point attempt and made a 20-footer at the other end to give the Clippers a 105-100 lead with 3:01 left.

Warriors star Stephen Curry left the game with 2:43 left in the third quarter after suffering a sprained left ankle. He didn’t leave the bench area and was reinserted into the contest with 8:08 remaining and the Warriors down 93-85.

But his return lasted just 13 seconds as he was subbed out for Wiggins, who finished with a game-high 29 points, with 7:55 remaining. Curry finished with 18 points in 27 minutes. He made four of his seven 3-point attempts and added six assists.

The Clippers have won back-to-back games on the road after losing their season opener to the Phoenix Suns in overtime. Jones shot 7 of 10 from the floor and Powell went 8-of-15 as Los Angeles shot 46.7 percent overall.

Wiggins made 11 of 15 shots, including five of his eight 3-point attempts, for Golden State, which was coming off back-to-back blowout wins on the road to open the season. The Warriors averaged 133.5 points in the two wins.

Jonathan Kuminga chipped in with 12 points for Golden State, while Kevon Looney had 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

Thunder top Hawks for first 3-0 start since 2016

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to help the host Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Atlanta Hawks 128-104 on Sunday.

Chet Holmgren added 25 points and nine rebounds, and Jalen Williams scored 20 to lift the Thunder to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.

The Hawks led 92-91 with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City then seized control. Alex Caruso’s floater allowed the Thunder to retake the lead and it ignited a 13-0 run.

The stretch was fueled by the Thunder’s defense, which held Atlanta scoreless for more than four minutes.

Trae Young led the Hawks with 24 points but had 10 turnovers — three in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder outscored Atlanta 39-18 in the final frame. Oklahoma City scored 28 points on the Hawks’ 20 turnovers and finished with 13 steals and 12 blocks.

After attempting just eight free throws in the first two games of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander was 10-for-11 at the line against the Hawks as the Thunder attempted 32 free throws — as many as they had combined in wins over Denver and Chicago.

The Thunder also shot a season-high 49.4 percent, going 14-of-23 from the field (60.9 percent) in the fourth.

The Hawks were without De’Andre Hunter, who missed the first night of the back-to-back set due to right knee inflammation, while Bogdan Bogdanovic missed his second consecutive game with a right hamstring injury.

Atlanta led by 10 points late in the second quarter before the Thunder surged, finishing the half on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 58-58 by the break.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the first half and Holmgren added 13 points for the Thunder. Young scored 15 points before halftime.