By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 37 points, including Golden State’s final 12, to rally the Warriors past Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks, 120-117, on Tuesday night, Nov. 12, in an NBA Cup game.
Thompson finished with 22 points in an emotional return to Chase Center for the first time since he departed to join Dallas in July.
Luka Doncic started and had 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists after the team decided his left groin strain was healthy to play once he went through his warmup routine.
The Warriors gifted captain hats to fans in a tribute to Thompson’s tradition of taking his boat across the bay to games. Thompson embraced Curry shortly before tipoff and his 3-pointer gave Dallas a 110-105 lead before his old Splash Brother took over.
Curry shot 14 for 27 making five 3s and added nine assists and six rebounds, also sparking a 20-3 burst to begin the third quarter.
Meanwhile in Detroit, Malik Beasley made a tiebreaking free throw with 1.1 seconds left in overtime after Miami was given a technical foul for calling a timeout when it had none left, and the Pistons edged the Heat, 123-121, in an NBA Cup game.
Tyler Herro’s jumper put Miami up 121-119 with 1.8 seconds left, but after a timeout, Cade Cunningham hit Jalen Duren with an alley-oop on the inbounds pass.
The Heat then called the illegal timeout. Beasley hit the foul shot to put Detroit up 122-121, then added another free throw with 0.1 seconds left.
Beasley and Cunningham each scored 21 for the Pistons, who went 0-4 in last year’s NBA Cup. Herro had 40, including 20 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks past the Toronto Raptors, 99-85, in an NBA Cup game between teams that entered with the two worst records in the league.
Bobby Portis added 17 points off the bench for Milwaukee (3-8). Brook Lopez scored 13 points while AJ Green and Ryan Rollins had 12 apiece.
In Salt Lake City, Devin Booker scored 31 points and Bradley Beal added 24 to help the Phoenix Suns open NBA Cup pool play with a 120-112 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Grayson Allen chipped in 15 points for the Suns. Booker, Beal and Allen combined to make 13 3-pointers. Mason Plumlee finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds while starting in place of injured center Jusuf Nurkic.
John Collins led the Jazz with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Filipowski added 18 points off the bench and Lauri Markkanen chipped in 17. Jordan Clarkson finished with 16 points and a team-high eight assists.
In other games, OG Anunoby scored 24 points and the New York Knicks spoiled 76ers star Joel Embiid’s season debut, beating Philadelphia, 111-99, in the opener of NBA Cup group play for both teams.
Embiid finished with 13 points and 26 minutes and was unable to lift the struggling Sixers, who fell to 2-8. He shot 2 of 11 and had only three rebounds. Paul George led the Sixers with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Earlier, Robert Williams and Jerami Grant each scored 19 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 122-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Williams, who recently returned from a knee injury, also had nine rebounds and three assists.
Naz Reid led Minnesota with 28 points in the loss while star guard Anthony Edwards pitched in 26 points.
