Klay Thompson had the hot hand and the Dallas Mavericks gave the Golden State Warriors all they could handle before prevailing.
Thompson buried nine triples en route to 40 points, fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry had 33 and the Warriors held off the short-handed Mavericks 128-120 on Friday, to extend their NBA record home winning streak to 52, with 33 coming this season.
“Klay makes some unbelievable shots you don’t expect him to take and he knocks them down,” said Curry, who added eight assists and eight rebounds. “Like tonight in close games we needed every single one of them. He always inspires me.”  
Warriors coach Steve Kerr joked at Thompson’s uncanny shooting ability saying, “I see a guy who never cares and just comes down and shoots. He never thinks. He’s a tremendous shooter with a perfect shooter’s mentally. He doesn’t give a crap.”
Draymond Green had 19 points with 10 assists for the Warriors (65-7), who remain on pace to beat the NBA record of 72 wins in a single season owned by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. The Warriors knocked down 21 triples, giving them a league record 938, eclipsing by five the previous mark set last season by the Houston Rockets. But their defence was the problem.   
“We did a good job offensively but defensively we were kind of a mess,” Kerr said. “Our defence was horrific, they exposed us, and we lost focus time after time. Klay hit some crazy threes to stem the tide.”
Golden State led by as many as 18 in the third quarter but the Mavs rallied.
Reserve Charlie Villanueva scored all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a triple to pull Dallas within 118-113 with 3:20 left to play. The defending NBA Champions would respond with a 10-3 burst. Harrison Barnes buried a jumper and Curry waltzed in for a wide-open layup.
Thompson and Barnes drilled back-to-back triples to make it 126-116 with 40.9 ticks remaining, as the sellout crowd at Oracle Arena roared their approval.   
Wesley Matthews scored 26 points, while JJ Barea added 21 for the Mavericks (35-37), who were without starters Dirk Nowitzki (rest), Deron Williams (abdominal strain) and Chandler Parsons (arthroscopic knee surgery)
The Warriors spoiled the return of former teammate David Lee, who scored 12 points for Dallas, after receiving his championship ring in a pre-game ceremony.

Elsewhere:
San Antonio Spurs 110, Memphis Grizzlies 104
LaMarcus Aldridge had 32 points with 12 rebounds, Manu Ginobili buried a pair of key triples in a late 13-0 run, and the short-handed Spurs beat the injury-depleted Grizzlies to improve to 37-0 at home this season.
The Spurs (61-11) matched the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls NBA mark en route to their record 72-victory season despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard (bruised right quadriceps) while resting Danny Green, Boris Diaw and Patty Mills.
JaMychal Green had 20 points for the Memphis (41-32) playing without injured starters Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley.

Houston Rockets 112, Toronto Raptors 109
James Harden 32 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season, helping the host Rockets (36-37) stop a three-game slide after topping the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points and Kyle Lowry added 15 for Toronto (48-23) before both were tossed in the final three minutes for vehemently complaining calls.

Miami Heat 108, Orlando 97
Hassan Whiteside had 26 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, and the Heat (42-30) used a dominant 31-12 third quarter to beat the Magic (29-43) for the 14th time in the last 15 meetings.

Minnesota Timberwolves 132, Washington Wizards 129 (2 OT):  
Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points with 10 rebounds, Gorgiu Dieng hit the go-ahead jumper with 29 seconds left in the second overtime, as the visiting Timberwolves (24-48) trimmed the Wizards. Bradley Beal topped Washington (35-37) with 26 points.

Detroit Pistons 112, Charlotte Hornets 105
Kentavious Caldwell Pope and Marcus Morris scored 21 points apiece, and the Pistons (38-34) beat the visiting Hornets for their fifth straight win. Kemba Walker paced Charlotte (41-31) with 29 points.

Atlanta Hawks 101, Milwaukee Bucks 90
Jeff Teague scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter and the Hawks (43-30) beat the visiting Bucks (30-43) for their seventh win in the last eight games.

Denver Nuggets 116, LA Lakers 105
DJ Augustin scored 20 points, and Bosnian rookie Jusuf Nurkic added a career-high 18 and the visiting Nuggets (31-42) beat the Lakers.  Kobe Bryant scored 28 points while Julius Randle had his first career triple-double with 13 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists for the West-worst Lakers (15-57), who lost for the sixth time in seven games.