SAN FRANCISCO — Cam Thomas and Stephen Curry traded shots Saturday night like gunslingers, and Thomas actually outscored him.
But Curry, as he’s done often in his legendary career, had the last laugh. His floater off the glass with less than a minute remaining gave Golden State just enough cushion to record a 124-120 victory over the Nets at Chase Center.
Thomas had 41 points, his second game this season with at least 40. He shot 15-for-24, but the Nets (13-12) not only lost their second consecutive game but fell to 1-5 when Thomas scores at least 40.
Curry was 7-for-7 from the field in the final period and scored 16 of his 37 points to help end Golden State’s losing streak at three games.
Curry’s shot put Golden State (11-14) up 122-118. Nic Claxton hit a layup, and after Golden State rookie Brandin Podziemski missed a three-pointer, the Nets had a chance to tie or take the lead.
However, Mikal Bridges’ driving layup with 24.4 seconds left missed off the front of the rim and Curry hit a layup on the ensuing possession.
“I just missed it. Just missed the layup,” Bridges said. “Coach drew the play up for me to get iso up top. And I just missed the layup.”
Bridges scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter but shot 6-for-17 from the field.
The Nets fell to 1-3 on this five-game road trip despite coming back from an 18-point third-quarter deficit.
They scored 35 points in the period to get back in the game at 95-89 entering the fourth quarter.
Bridges’ three-pointer capped a 10-2 run that gave the Nets a 99-97 lead, their first since the first quarter. Bridges’ layup put the Nets ahead 103-102 with 7:32 left, but Curry scored Golden State’s next 12 points, including a high-arcing jumper over Claxton that made it 114-106.
“[They] closed it out because they’ve got Steph Curry,” Thomas said. “He controlled the game, started making shots at the end, and that’s why he is who he is. So he really just took the game over.”
It…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply