The Albany Gazette - Curry lifts Warriors over Spurs, Thunder rout Lakers, Jokic shines

Nikola Jokic capped the night with a 55-point outburst that propelled the Denver Nuggets to a 130-116 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Curry scored 31 of his points in the second half as the Warriors handed the Spurs a first home defeat of the season, snapping San Antonio's three-game winning streak despite triple-doubles from both Victor Wembanyama and teammate Stephon Castle.

Wembanyama delivered 31 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and Castle added 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

San Antonio led by 16 in the second quarter, but the Warriors cut the deficit to seven at halftime and powered to the lead in the third quarter.

Curry said that in the wake of a blowout loss to the Thunder on Tuesday "everybody stepped up."

"That third quarter is what we do," he added. "Getting stops, pushing, creating easy offense, and thankfully I was able to knock a couple down.

"You know we didn't really make a lot of shots in the first half, but I think everybody kept their confidence, their composure."

Luka Doncic and the Lakers got a reality check in Oklahoma City, falling 121-92 to the reigning champion Thunder.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out-dueled Doncic, scoring 30 points with five rebounds, nine assists and a pair of steals in the victory over a Lakers team that had won six of their prior seven games despite the fact that they are still awaiting the season debut of superstar LeBron James.

Oklahoma City led by as many as 37 points. Gilgeous-Alexander and his fellow starters sat out the fourth quarter.

Doncic scored 19 points with seven rebounds and seven assists before he was pulled for the fourth quarter by Lakers coach JJ Redick.

The Thunder improved their league-best record to 12-1 and Gilgeous-Alexander said the back-to-back wins over the Warriors and Lakers were a useful early-season measuring stick.

"We definitely got better the last two days and that's the main goal," he said.

- Jokic scores 55 -

Denver's three-time MVP Jokic scored 55 points with 12 rebounds and six assists in a ruthlessly efficient display.

Jokic connected on 18 of his 23 shots, including five of six from three-point range, adding a steal and a block as the Nuggets won their sixth straight.

He matched the league's highest scoring performance of the season. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 55 in a double-overtime game against Indiana in October.

Jokic didn't need any extra time. He scored 25 points in the first quarter and with eight in the second and 19 in the third had secured his fifth career game with 50 or more points before the final period.

The Orlando Magic handed the New York Knicks their first home defeat of the season, overcoming the early departure of star forward Paolo Banchero to triumph 124-107 at Madison Square Garden.

Banchero had scored just four points when he limped out with a groin injury early in the second quarter.

But he still celebrated his 23rd birthday with a win as Franz Wagner scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds to propel the Magic.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points for New York, helping the Knicks cut a 21-point third-quarter deficit to single digits midway through the fourth.

Orlando's lead was back to 15 when Brunson exited with less than two minutes remaining with an apparent leg injury.

In Detroit, Paul Reed scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the red-hot Pistons to an eighth-straight victory, 124-113 over the Chicago Bulls.

Duncan Robinson added 23 points and Daniss Jenkins scored 18 points and handed out 12 assists for Detroit, who led wire to wire despite a litany of injury absences that included star guard Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson.

(B.Smith--TAG)