Warriors getting bullish

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Thursday matched one record set by Michael Jordan's iconic Chicago Bulls as they close in on an even bigger mark.

Curry had 33 points in his return from an ankle injury as the Warriors tied Chicago's NBA mark by winning their 44th straight regular-season home game, 121-106 over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"That's an amazing accomplishment," Curry said. "It's a compliment to us as a team, our coaching staff and obviously to our fans, who bring that atmosphere every night to give us the ultimate home-court advantage."

Five days after tying the NBA record with 12 3-pointers in an overtime win at Oklahoma City, Curry went 5 of 15 from long range in the rematch.

He got more than enough help from his bench to help the Warriors (55-5) move 50 games above .500 in their quest to break the Bulls' single-season mark for victories.

The Bulls won 44 consecutive home games from March 30, 1995, until April 4, 1996. That helped them set the record with 72 wins in 1995-96.

"You can't dream that stuff up," said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who played on those Chicago teams. "It's been that kind of season for us."

Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Russell Westbrook had 22 and Serge Ibaka added 20 for the Thunder, who have lost six of eight since the All-Star break.

"We've definitely got to get it under control," Durant said. "I'm not happy with the way we're playing. Obviously we want to win, but this is where you see what you're made of."

Durant had nine turnovers, his second-most this season. He committed 10 against Sacramento on Dec 6.

"I'm frustrated," he said. "I'm frustrated because we lost, but I played as hard as I could tonight.

"I'm not trying to shy away from them. I made turnovers, I played in a crowd when I shouldn't have and I tried to make passes that I shouldn't make."

Klay Thompson scored 21 for the Warriors, and Shaun Livingston provided 11 points, eight assists and tough defense on Durant off the bench.

Golden State trailed 80-71 midway through the third quarter before reloading.

With four starters on the bench to start the period, the Warriors pumped in the first seven points with the help of a 3-pointer by Marreese Speights to take a six-point lead.

"We're confident coming off the bench," Livingston said. "They have a good team. But we have a deeper team. We try to come in and all do our parts and do our jobs and hopefully overwhelm them over a 48-minute game."

The Warriors extended their lead once the starters returned, going up 106-97 on Curry's three-point play with just over four minutes left.

Andrew Bogut then stole the ball from Durant, leading to a dunk by Thompson that gave Golden State a 12-point lead.

Curry, who missed Tuesday night's overtime victory against Atlanta, added two late 3s to seal it.

Tip-ins

Thunder: OKC has lost 10 games when leading after three quarters, tied with Philadelphia for most in the league.

Warriors: Speights is 4 for 4 from 3-point range the past two games after making just eight 3s coming into March ... Curry won the Western Conference player of the month award for February, becoming the first Warriors player to win the award twice in one season.

(China Daily 03/05/2016 page12)