Stephen Curry (left) of the Golden State Warriors drives past Utah Jazz’s Center Rudy Gobert during the first half of an NBA game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah on Monday. (AFP)

DPA/Los Angeles


Stephen Curry got hot when it mattered most and the unbeaten Golden State Warriors had a November to remember.
Reigning league MVP Curry poured 26 points, including the tie-breaking triple with 51 seconds, and the defending league champions escaped with their NBA 19th consecutive victory to start the season on Monday, 106-103 over the pesky host Utah Jazz.
“We’ve had some battles and, obviously, we’ve had some lopsided victories but what gets lost in the record is the tough games we’ve had to claw our way out of like tonight,” said Curry, who scored 10 points in the final 6.5 minutes. “Just because we are 19-0 doesn’t mean we can just show up and blow teams out and guarantee a win. We actually have to do something about it.”
The Warriors have won 23 straight games dating back to last season, making it the third-longest streak in NBA history behind the 27 by the 2012-13 Miami Heat, and the all-time mark of 33 authored by the 1971-72 LA Lakers.
Klay Thompson netted 20 while Draymond Green also had 20 with nine rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, which blew an 11-third quarter cushion and had its smallest margin of victory of the season.  
“Everybody has gotten used to us beating teams by 20 (points) and then we have a close game. We’re not surprised. We know that’s going to happen during the course of the season. We responded well,” Green said.
“We stayed together at the end, Steph made the big plays when we needed them and we came away with the win.”
Two free throws by Utah’s Derrick Favors knotted the contest at 101-apiece before Curry splashed in the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing. After Rodney Hood’s basket brought the Jazz within 104-103, Curry missed a triple, giving the hosts a chance to take the lead.
But Hood missed a wide-open 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining.  Green wrestled the rebound away from Gordon Hayward to Curry, who made the game-sealing free throws to kick off a seven-game road trip.
“We knew this was going to be one of the toughest challenges for us,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said. “It was a solid NBA game and fun to be part of.”
Hayward topped the Jazz with 24 points and Favours added 23.
“They’re the best team in the NBA and we played them down to the wire but they won the game,” Favours said. “We played hard and gave it our best shot. You have to tip your hat off to them.”  

Pistons 116, Houston Rockets 105
Reggie Jackson scored 31 points, Andre Drummond had 24 with 13 rebounds and the Pistons (9-9) held off the visiting Rockets. James Harden tallied 29 for Houston (7-11), which cut a 28-point first-half deficit to four in the fourth quarter before losing for the first time in the last three decisions.

Boston Celtics 105, Miami Heat 95
Avery Bradley tossed in 25 points, Evan Turner added five of his 13 in the final minute and the Celtics (10-8) stopped a three-game road slide after beating the Heat (10-6) who wasted Dwyane Wade’s game-high 30.

Atlanta Hawks 106, Oklahoma City 100
Paul Millsap scored 26 points, Jeff Teague added 25, including the go-ahead layup with 69 seconds left, and the Hawks (12-8) snapped the visiting Thunder’s four-game winning streak. Russell Westbrook topped Oklahoma City (11-7) with 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Kevin Durant netted 25.

Chicago Bulls 92, San Antonio Spurs 89
Spaniard Pau Gasol had 18 points with 13 rebounds and a big block on LaMarcus Aldridge with 1:06 left, while Jimmy Butler sank two free throws in the closing seconds to help the host Bulls (10-5) stop the Spurs’ five-game winning streak. Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio (14-4) with 25 points.

Milwaukee Bucks 92, Denver Nuggets 74
Greg Monroe scored 18 points and the Bucks (7-11) sent the struggling Nuggets (6-12) to their seventh consecutive loss after holding the visitors to just five third-quarter points.

Kings 112, Dallas Mavericks 98
DeMarcus Cousins dropped in 16 of his 31 points in the final quarter, and the host Kings (7-12) beat the Mavericks (10-8) for just the third time in the last 24 meetings.

LA Clippers 102, Portland 87
Blake Griffin scored 23 points, DeAndre Jordan had 18 with 24 rebounds, and the Clippers (10-8) overcame the third quarter loss of All-Star guard Chris Paul to a rib muscle strain to beat the visiting Trail Blazers for their third straight win. Portland (7-11) also lost guard Damian Lillard two minutes into the second half with abdominal pain.