Stephen Curry followed up a career-best 62-point effort with 30 more in just 31 minutes Monday night, propelling the Golden State Warriors to a second straight run-away win, 137-106 over the Sacramento Kings in San Francisco.
Seven Warriors, including three reserves, scored in double figures. Golden State tied the franchise record for points at home team in the 2-year-old Chase Center – set one night earlier – while snapping a three-game losing streak against the rival Kings.
Harrison Barnes, a member of Golden State’s 2015 championship team, had 18 points for Sacramento, sharing team honors with De’Aaron Fox.
Riding the momentum of a 137-122 home win over Portland on Sunday, the Warriors wasted no time blitzing the Kings 24 hours later, scoring the first eight points of the game on 3-pointers by Draymond Green and Kelly Oubre Jr. and a 2-pointer by James Wiseman. They never looked back.
Curry, who had 30-plus points in each half of his performance on Sunday, totaled 23 in the first 24 minutes this time, helping Golden State run up a 68-48 advantage.
The second half was never appreciably closer, with the Kings suffering a third consecutive loss in the process.
Curry shot 9-for-18 overall and 5-for-12 on 3-pointers for the Warriors, who at 4-3 went above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season, reports said.
Oubre, who had made just two of his first 30 3-point attempts as a first-year member of the Warriors, finally caught fire with four in six tries en route to 18 points, while Andrew Wiggins (16), Eric Paschall (14), Michael Mulder (12), Kevon Looney (11) and Wiseman (10) also scored in double figures for Golden State.
Mulder did all of his scoring on 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc, helping Golden State go 23-for-43 to outscore the Kings 69-30 from deep.
Buddy Hield was a third King to score in double figures with 10 points as Sacramento capped a winless trip that began with consecutive losses in Houston.
Barnes and Marvin Bagley III shared game-high rebound honors with Curry with nine apiece, while Fox collected a team-high seven assists, one fewer than Curry’s game-high total.
The Kings had swept last year’s three-game season series among the NBA’s two Northern California teams.
BUCKS VS. PISTONS
Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 43 points – including a career-high 30-point first half – as the Milwaukee Bucks downed the visiting Detroit Pistons 125-115 on Monday.
He added nine rebounds and four assists, while Khris Middleton contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Jrue Holiday had 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals and D.J. Augustin added 11 points and six assists.
The teams will play once again in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Derrick Rose had 24 points and eight assists to lead Detroit. Jerami Grant also scored 24 points, while Svi Mykhailiuk, Sekou Doumbouya and Wayne Ellington added 13 apiece.
The Pistons played without starter Blake Griffin, who was rested with the team playing its third game in four days. Point guard Killian Hayes departed in the third quarter with a hip injury.
Milwaukee grabbed a 67-56 halftime lead behind the two-time reigning Most Valuable Player.
Antetokounmpo scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Bucks established a 33-26 lead.
He made a dunk and an assist during a 7-0 Bucks spurt to start the second quarter.
The Pistons pulled within four, 46-42, with the aid of seven Mykhailiuk points during the next three minutes.
Milwaukee then went on 15-4 run, including 10 points from Antetokounmpo. He finished off the run with his first 3-pointer of the game.
He reached the 30-point mark on a jumper with 2:34 left in the half.
Detroit cut Milwaukee’s lead to seven, 69-62, early in the second half on a midrange shot by Grant. The Bucks then went on an 11-2 run which began with a Brook Lopez 3-pointer off an Antetokounmpo pass. Middleton and Augustin also knocked down 3-pointers during that stretch.
Antetokounmpo’s 3-pointer with just over four minutes left in the quarter gave the Bucks an 18-point lead at 86-68.
Milwaukee led 97-80 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Pistons got the deficit under double digits at 113-105 on a Mykhailiuk 3-pointer with five minutes remaining. Milwaukee wouldn’t let them get any closer.
IN-GAME MASK POLICY
The NBA, meanwhile, has instituted a tougher mask policy that will go into effect today, making it mandatory practice for dressed and active players to wear masks on the bench until they enter a game.
Multiple outlets reported the updated policy, citing a memo the league sent to every team.
Also, players and coaches must wear masks when outside the team environment and if around other players and coaches, and each team must divulge the names of private trainers and sundry specialists they work with outside of the team facility, per the reports.
Players are not required to don a mask coming out of a game, though it is highly recommended.
Inactive players and coaches must continue to wear masks throughout the duration of games.*
