MIAMI: Stephen Curry scored 40 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat 114-97 on Tuesday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Golden State scored 14 straight points to open a 107-95 lead with 2:50 to go. Curry and Thompson capped the run with consecutive 3-pointers.
Thompson had 24 points for the Warriors, who shot 57 percent. Curry was 12 for 19 from the field, including an 8-for-11 performance from 3-point range.
Chris Bosh scored 26 points for Miami, and Luol Deng had 16. James Ennis’ dunk with 9:11 left was the Heat’s last field goal.
Miami led by 16 in the first half, but Golden State closed the second quarter with a 23-8 surge. Draymond Green made two free throws with 9.8 seconds left to cut the Heat’s lead to 62-61 at the break.
Golden State carried the momentum over to the second-half. Curry hit three 3-pointers in the third period, and his two free throws with 58.2 seconds remaining put Golden State ahead, 89-82.
Hawks 106, Wizards 102
Jeff Teague led the way with 28 points and a 22-5 fourth quarter run propelled the Atlanta Hawks to victory over the Washington Wizards.
Atlanta (7-5) turned a tight but sloppy contest into a 92-78 lead with 4:03 remaining but needed to rely on free throws to clinch the game after the Wizards made a late push.
John Wall scored 21 points for the Wizards (9-4), who had won five of six before Tuesday’s loss left them 2 1/2 games off the Eastern Conference lead.
Nuggets 114, Bulls 109
Ty Lawson had 20 points and 12 assists, including a big basket late on, as the Denver Nuggets beat the injury-ravaged Chicago Bulls to win their fifth game in a row.
Jimmy Butler scored 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and forward Pau Gasol contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.
The Bulls (9-6), down two frontcourt players at the start of the game, lost guard Derrick Rose to left hamstring tightness in the first half.
Kings 99, Pelicans 89
Omri Casspi, playing for injured starter Rudy Gay, scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second half and center DeMarcus Cousins added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lift the Sacramento Kings to victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. AGENCIES
