CLEVELAND—The Golden State Warriors returned to the floor where they won the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship last season and embarrassed the Cleveland Cavaliers, 132-98, on Monday.
Stephen Curry scored 35 points in three quarters for the Warriors, who built a huge early lead and cruised to their fifth straight victory over the Cavaliers, who appear at this stage to be the best team the Eastern Conference can put up against the several title contenders in the West.
Golden State retained a 10 1/2 game lead in the Pacific Division ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, who hit a franchise-record 22 three-pointers in an overtime win against Houston.
Chicago closed within 4 1/2 games of Cleveland for the Central Division lead by winning at Detroit, while Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to an overtime victory against Boston.
Golden State’s Curry made seven three-pointers—his last put the Warriors ahead by 40 points late in the third quarter—and the reigning league Most Valuable Player seemed right at home in Quicken Loans Arena, where the Warriors clinched their first title since 1975 last June.
Andre Iguodala added 20 as the Warriors bounced back from a surprise loss to Detroit over the weekend.
LeBron James scored 16 for Cleveland, which needed a late flurry of points to avoid the heaviest home loss in franchise history.
Los Angeles’s sharp-shooting J.J. Redick scored a career-high 40 points as the Clippers beat Houston, 140-132.
Redick connected on his first five attempts behind the arc and finished nine for 12 on three-pointers, tying Caron Butler’s club record for threes.
Chris Paul had 28 points and 12 assists for the Clippers. He, Redick and Jamal Crawford each made three-pointers while the Clippers opened overtime on a 9-2 run.
Houston’s Dwight Howard had 36 points and tied a career high with 26 rebounds en route to his 10th straight double-double, the league’s longest active streak. He secured it before halftime with 13 points and 15 boards.
Dallas’s Nowitzki scored 31 points to lead the Mavericks past Boston, 118-113, after overtime.
Nowitzki scored 21 of those points across the fourth quarter and overtime, while Deron Williams had 10 of his 20 points in overtime for the Mavericks, who led by 17 points in the second quarter but trailed by six in the fourth before rallying.
Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart led Boston with 20 points apiece.
Chicago’s Pau Gasol had 31 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 111-101 victory at Detroit.
Derrick Rose had 20 points for the Bulls, who won again in the absence of Joakim Noah, who dislocated a shoulder on Friday and likely will miss the rest of the season. Chicago is 9-2 in 2015-2016 when he doesn’t play.
Ersan Ilyasova had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Detroit, which was outplayed after taking a 13-point lead in the first quarter. The Pistons also lost their cool, getting called for three technical fouls in the third. Detroit guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope received two of them and was ejected.
Atlanta had six players score in double figures, with the broad-based contribution leading the Hawks to a 98-81 win against sliding Orlando.
Al Horford scored 15 points and Paul Millsap had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks.
Aaron Gordon finished with 18 points for the Magic, which shot 34.5 percent from the field — the lowest this season against Atlanta—and lost their seventh game in eight.
Portland went on a 23-1 run in the third quarter to beat Washington, 108-98, with CJ McCollum making six 3-pointers and scoring 25 points.
Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored a franchise-record 52 points, powering Charlotte to a 123-119 double-overtime win against Utah.
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Raptors past Brooklyn 112-100.
Memphis’ Marc Gasol had 16 points and made his 10th rebound as the key last play to give the Grizzlies a 101-99 win against New Orleans.
New York’s Carmelo Anthony returned from a two-game injury absence and made a tying three-pointer with 3.4 seconds left in regulation to help the Knicks beat lowly Philadelphia 119-113 in double overtime.