OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots, leading the short-handed Golden State Warriors past the sluggish Portland Trail Blazers 111-104 on Monday night.
Klay Thompson overcame a cold shooting start to score 24 points as Golden State played without two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who is nursing a sprained right ankle and missed his third straight game. Draymond Green sat out with a sore right shoulder while starting center Zaza Pachulia was sidelined for his second game in a row because of soreness in his left shoulder.
Damian Lilliard scored a season-high 39 points with five 3-pointers playing back home in Oakland. He hit a 3-pointer late in the first half with Durant in his face and pumped his arm to celebrate.
Durant, who earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors on Monday, shot 11 for 21 and Nick Young contributed 12 points in 13 minutes off the bench before leaving with a concussion in the third quarter.
David West scored in double figures over consecutive games for the first time with the Warriors and his first since 2015-16 for San Antonio.
Rookie Jordan Bell scored in double figures for the second time with 11 points, while Omri Casspi and Shaun Livingston also started for the defending champions, who were coming off a 6-0 road trip. It marked the franchise’s first time doing so in that long of a stretch away from home.
Now, the Warriors will get to stay home for almost the entire rest of the year except for a trip to face the Lakers on Dec. 18.
CJ McCollum scored 21 points and Zach Collins added season-bests of nine points and seven rebounds before fouling out of Portland’s fifth straight loss. This marked the first meeting of the season between the West rivals after Golden State took all four games last regular season and then swept the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.
The Warriors have won the last seven regular-season meetings and also seven in a row at home.
BULLS 108, CELTICS 85
In Boston, Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis are starting to draw attention for their play together instead of their fight with each other.
Mirotic scored 24 points, Portis added a career-high 23 and the Chicago Bulls blew out Boston 108-85 on Monday night with Celtics star Kyrie Irving sidelined because of a bruised left quadriceps.
Owners of the NBA’s worst record, the Bulls (6-20) built an 18-point lead in the second quarter against the Eastern Conference leaders. And when Boston cut it to 12 in the fourth, the Bulls simply pulled away for their third straight win.