ATLANTA (AP) – Golden State’s Big Three went for balance.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Kevin Durant had 28 and Klay Thompson chipped in with 27 as the Warriors cruised past the Atlanta Hawks, 128-111, Monday night, snapping a six-game losing streak on the road.
All three stars have scored more than 50 points in a game this season.
This time, they spread the wealth.
“Our defense set the tone,” Curry said. “Everybody gets to touch the ball.”
With Curry scoring 18 points in the opening quarter, this one was never in doubt.
Golden State raced to a 34-17 lead in the first 12 minutes – Curry outscored the Hawks by himself – and the defending NBA champions won for only the fourth time in 10 games.
Playing for the second time since missing 11 games with a groin injury, Curry hit his first six shots, four of them beyond the arc . He finished 6 of 10 from 3-point range
“I think he’s now back in the groove,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He looked great handling the ball.”
The Warriors led 61-47 at halftime and stretched the margin as high as 24 points, sending the rebuilding Hawks to their third straight loss.
“We needed a win on the road,” Curry said. “We kind of didn’t want to give them life.”
Despite the win, Kerr said he’s not pleased with his team’s performance.
“We’re not where we need to be by any stretch of the imagination,” Kerr said. “We’ve been kind of uneven to this point.”
NUGGETS SHOCK RAPTORS
In Toronto, Nikola Jokic got his second triple-double of the season to help the injury-riddled Denver Nuggets overcome another key absence.
Jokic capped a big night with three free throws in the final seven seconds, Kyle Lowry missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Nuggets survived the loss of leading scorer Gary Harris to beat the Toronto Raptors 106-103 on Monday night.
“To beat the number one team in the East means a lot to us,” Jokic said.
Jokic made it 104-103 with a free throw with 7.0 seconds left, then hit two more foul shots with 5.6 seconds remaining before Lowry bounced a 26-footer off the rim.
Jokic had 23 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored 21 points, and Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez each scored 15 points for Denver. The Nuggets won their sixth straight and halted Toronto’s winning streak at eight.
