Warriors on longest winning streak since 1975.
There were 12 games on the NBA schedule on Tuesday night, but the night belonged to the Golden State Warriors who picked up their tenth consecutive win.
Mark Jackson’s men extended the streak with their 101-80 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, their longest winning run since 1975 and now just one short of the franchise record set back in 1971.
Having been named the Western Conference player of the week, David Lee continued his All-Star calibre level of performance by scoring 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead Golden State to the win.
“I’ve said all along that (Stephen) Curry is an All-Star, there’s no question about that. But the way that David Lee has played the last 15 ballgames, he’s an All-Star,” Jackson said, as reported by ESPN.
“He has separated himself.”
Curry and Klay Thompson both added 15 points apiece, but ultimately the game was won through the defensive effort as both Lee and Andrew Bogut performed well to limit the Bucks.
The Warriors end their seven-game road trip on Wednesday night at the Brooklyn Nets, and will aim to become the first team in NBA history to go undefeated on a road trip of seven or more games.
They’ve now moved to 24-13 for the season and into fourth place in the Western Conference, confirming opinions that they can be considered an elite team this year.
Elsewhere, the struggles continue for the Oklahoma City Thunder who fell to defeat to the Utah Jazz, despite 48 points from Kevin Durant on another monster night from the forward.
However, Gordon Hayward did his best to match that by scoring a career-high 37 points, including Utah’s final 17 points, and his effort allowed the Jazz to break away and seal a confidence-boosting win.
“How about Gordon! He was huge. I mean we needed every last basket he made for us,” Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said.
Meanwhile, there were also wins for the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers against the New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors respectively, while the New York Knicks continued their improvement with victory over the Detroit Pistons.
There was also a win for the Chicago Bulls who were without Luol Deng following his trade deal to the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the franchise decided to waive Andrew Bynum in order to create further salary cap space.
Amongst the star performers of the night were LeBron James (32 points), Anthony Davis (22 points, 12 rebounds), Carmelo Anthony (34 points), Joakim Noah (14 points, 16 rebounds) and Roy Hibbert (22 points, 8 rebounds).
However, there was real drama in Memphis as the San Antonio Spurs needed overtime to see off the Grizzlies in a 110-108 win.
Tim Duncan had 24 points and 17 rebounds but it was Manu Ginobili’s lay-up with 1.8 seconds left which lifted the Spurs beyond their rivals to secure a hard-fought win.
Memphis point guard Mike Conley had the chance to win the game on the final possession but his 3-point attempt fell short at the buzzer.
NBA Results:
Washington Wizards 97-83 Charlotte Bobcats
Philadelphia 76ers 93-111 Cleveland Cavaliers
Toronto Raptors 79-86 Indiana Pacers
New Orleans Pelicans 88-107 Miami Heat
Detroit PIstons 85-89 New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns 87-92 Chicago Bulls
San Antonio Spurs 110-108 Memphis Grizzlies
Golden State Warriors 101-80 Milwaukee Bucks
Los Angeles Lakers 97-110 Dallas Mavericks
Boston Celtics 98-129 Denver Nuggets
Oklahoma City Thunder 101-112 Utah Jazz
Portland Trail Blazers 119-123 Sacramento Kings
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