Stephen Curry (No 30) of the Golden State Warriors drives on Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. (AFP)


Agencies/New York


Stephen Curry scored seven of his game-high 37 points in the final 88 seconds to help a sloppy Golden State Warriors overcome 20 turnovers and remain unbeaten with a 115-110 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
“We can play better than this,” Curry told reporters after the league’s sole remaining undefeated team improved to 12-0 on the season and tied a franchise record for consecutive regular-season wins with 16 dating back to the last campaign.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard. Everybody likes to learn lessons and win,” he added of a hard-fought victory that was also Golden State’s 25th straight at home during the regular season.
The Warriors, who trailed 98-96 with 5:54 to play, had moved 106-103 ahead before Curry buried a 15-footer to create a five-point cushion with 1:28 to go.
Golden State did the rest of its scoring at the foul line, with Curry making five of six and power forward Draymond Green two in a row to keep Toronto at arm’s length down the stretch.
“We’ve gotten away from playing four solid quarters of basketball,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said.
“We played a great first half tonight. But in the third quarter, I just felt like we let them get into a rhythm and build some confidence.”
The loss was the Raptors’ second straight to open a five-game road trip.
“Our guys played well enough to win,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “We have something good going. We play like that in any game, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”
In a game stalled to a snail’s pace by 54 foul calls and 66 free throws, Casey thought one call and one non-call down the stretch doomed his team.
The non-call occurred on a driving basket by Toronto shooting guard DeMar DeRozan with 38.7 seconds remaining. The hoop brought the Raptors within 109-108 but Casey was hoping for an extra free throw opportunity that might have tied the score.
“There’s a lot of contact in there,” the coach said. “I’ve got to look at it again.”
Then, after blocking a Curry layup attempt on Golden State’s next possession, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was called for an offensive foul when he got entangled with power forward Draymond Green while setting a screen with 15.4 seconds left.
“I don’t know if it was a screen or it was two guys getting tangled up,” Casey said. “Again, I’ve got to look at it to see.”
Four subsequent free throws by the Warriors iced the win.   

Pistons rally to down James and the Cavaliers
Andre Drummond powered for 25 points and 18 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons rallied from a 13-point, second-half deficit to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-99 on Tuesday night at The Palace.
The fourth-year centre scored 10 fourth-quarter points as the Pistons (6-5) snapped a four-game losing streak. Point guard Reggie Jackson supplied 23 points, including six free throws in the final minute, along with 12 assists. Power forward Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points and six rebounds and small forward Marcus Morris chipped in 14 points for Detroit. Small forward LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points and passed Jerry West on the all-time scoring list but the Cavaliers (8-3) lost their second straight.
James reached the scoring milestone on a 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter. James needed 10 points to pass the Los Angeles Lakers legend for 19th place on the all-time scoring list. West finished his career with 25,192 points.
Power forward Kevin Love had 19 points and nine rebounds while guards J.R. Smith and Mo Williams tossed in 15 points apiece. The Cavs opened up their biggest lead at 70-57 by starting the second half on a 14-2 run. Smith capped it off with his second 3-pointer in that span.
Morris’ four-point play with 4:48 left in the quarter pulled Detroit within six, 77-71. The Cavs were up by the same amount at 81-75 entering the final quarter. When Ilyasova drilled an open 3-pointer with 5:26 remaining, Cleveland’s lead was just 89-88. Love hit a baseline shot to push the lead up to five but Drummond’s three-point play with 3:37 left got it back to two, 95-93.
Jackson’s pull-up jumper tied it and Drummond made one of two free throws with 2:07 left to give Detroit its first second-half lead, 98-97. James turned the ball over in the final minute but Jackson missed a jumper. Center Timofey Mozgov misfired from the left side on Cleveland’s ensuing possession and Jackson hit two free throws with 21.3 seconds left.
James made a layup but Jackson matched those points with two more free throws. Smith missed from long-range and Jackson clinched the victory with two more free throws. James was the only Cavs player in double figures by halftime but his 23 points were enough to give them a 56-55 lead.