SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry started hitting big shots from the start and the Golden State Warriors dominated the Lakers without LeBron James, helping take at least some of the sting out of a double-overtime collapse when the California rivals met last month.
Curry scored 32 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and had eight assists, leading the Warriors past the Lakers 128-110 on Thursday night as both teams returned for from the All-Star break.
With the makeup of this Golden State roster, Curry has taken it upon himself to be more aggressive looking for his shot from the opening tip.
“Just him and getting the crowd engaged, bringing a lot of energy, I think it fuels us and sets the tone for the rest of the game,” said rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored 17 points off the bench on his 24th birthday. “Having someone with that caliber shooting the ball like that, you just want to give him as many shots as possible because you know that when he’s in that zone it’s hard to stop.”
With his 6,000th career assist, Curry became the eighth player in NBA history with at least 23,000 points and 6,000 assists — joining James, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and John Havlicek.
Curry made nine of his initial 12 shots with five 3s for 25 points by halftime after scoring 16 in the opening period. He had five straight shortly before halftime as the Warriors led 67-56 at the break — his 16th time this season with at least 20 in one half.
“I think he feels like it’s OK for him to get going right away,” coach Steve Kerr said, “this team can use that.”
The two-time MVP hit six or more 3-pointers for the fifth time in six games and wound up shooting 12 for 24 on the way to his fourth 30-point performance in the last six games.
Anthony Davis had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and D’Angelo Russell contributed 18 points, nine assists and five rebounds to lead the Lakers, who were without James because of a left ankle injury that also sidelined the 39-year-old forward Feb. 14 at Utah before the break.
Los Angeles had its three-game winning streak snapped with just a second defeat in eight games — and this one was a drastic difference from the last meeting when the Lakers rallied from 15 points down to beat the Warriors 145-144 in double overtime at Chase Center on Jan. 27.
Andrew Wiggins added 20 points for Golden State, while Jonathan Kuminga reached double figures for a career-best 34th straight game with 12 points as the Warriors won for the ninth time in 11 games since that loss to the Lakers.
James had a triple-double in that game with 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists.
Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham called James’ injury a “day-to-day thing.”
“When we wake up in the morning we’ll figure it out,” Ham said.
James has left ankle peroneal tendinopathy, inflammation of the tendons on the outside of his foot.
Klay Thompson missed his first six shots and two 3s before connecting from deep with 45 seconds remaining in the third and finished with just three points on 1-for-9 shooting but had five assists and four rebounds.
Kerr expects veteran guard Chris Paul to return on the upcoming trip after recovering from surgery for a fractured left hand.
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host San Antonio on Friday night.
Warriors: Host Charlotte on Friday night.
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First appeared on www.usatoday.com