LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry provided a late fourth-quarter lift as the defending champion Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-83 Friday in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Curry sank back-to-back driving layups in the final minutes to answer consecutive slam dunks by LeBron James, and shut down a Cleveland rally as Golden State improved the best start in NBA history to 28-1.
Curry scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and passed out seven assists while Draymond Green had 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors.
In a grinding contest that produced their lowest-scoring game this season, the Warriors improved to 14-0 at home this season with their 32nd overall home victory in a row. They shot only 41 percent from the floor but held Cleveland to 31 percent, including 5-of-30 from 3-point range.
James scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds but the Cavaliers fell to 19-8, 6-7 on the road, and saw their six-game win streak ended by the same team that beat them four games to two in last June’s NBA Finals.
J.R. Smith had 14 points for Cleveland while Kyrie Irving added 13 and Kevin Love and Australian Matthew Dellavedova added 10 points each.
Heat 94, Pelicans 88 (OT): Forward Chris Bosh scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 94-88 overtime home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bosh’s 30 points matched his season high.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who scored 19 points, improved to 10-1 on Christmas Day. That’s the best record in NBA history for any player who has played at least 10 Christmas games.
The Heat (17-11) have won seven straight Christmas games.
Pelicans forward Anthony Davis delivered a big performance with 29 points and 15 rebounds, but missed a long corner jumper just before the buzzer that could have won the game in regulation.
Bulls 105, Thunder 96: Guard Jimmy Butler scored 23 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 105-96 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Butler shot 9 of 20 from the field to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Center Pau Gasol added 21 points and 13 boards as Bulls improved to 16-11.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant led all scorers with 29 points on 11 of 21 shooting. He also collected nine rebounds and seven assists.
Rockets 88, Spurs 84: James Harden drilled consecutive three-pointers down the stretch and the Houston Rockets relied on their stifling defense to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 88-84 at Toyota Center.
Harden shot just 7-for-21 and missed his first three attempts from behind the arc before nailing back-to-back treys to push the Rockets (16-15) to an 84-75 lead and their seventh consecutive home victory.
Harden finished with 20 points and nine assists while center Dwight Howard chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds as Houston snapped the Spurs’ seven-game winning streak.
Forwards Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds for the Spurs (25-6). Center Tim Duncan added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Clippers 94, Lakers 84: Point guard Chris Paul had 23 points and six assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 94-84 at Staples Center.
Shooting guard J.J. Redick scored 14 points, forward Blake Griffin added 13 points and nine rebounds as the Clippers (17-13) defeated the Lakers for the eighth straight time.
Point guard D’Angelo Russell came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points with seven rebounds for the Lakers (5-25), who have dropped 10 of their last 12 games.
Forward Kobe Bryant finished with 12 points for the Lakers, while guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Julius Randle chipped in 11 points each. — Agencies
