OAKLAND, United States — The Golden State Warriors won the battle of the NBA's two best teams Wednesday, routing the high-flying Atlanta Hawks 114-95. With a season-high 25 points from Harrison Barnes and 21 from Andre Iguodala, the Warriors shook off the injury absence of Klay Thompson and a so-so shooting night for Stephen Curry.
With their 10th straight home win, the Western Conference-leading Warriors maintained the best record in the NBA at 54-13 — narrowly ahead of Eastern Conference leader Atlanta which fell to 53-15.
Despite connecting on just four of 11 shots from the floor, Curry still finished with 16 points and handed out 12 assists for Golden State. In addition to his season-high 21 points, Iguodala handed out six assists. Draymond Green added 18 points — draining five of his seven attempts from three-point range — and pulled down seven rebounds, while Golden State's Australian big man Andrew Bogut grabbed 14 rebounds. The victory came a day after Warriors head coach Steve Kerr announced that Thompson will miss seven to 10 days with an ankle injury suffered Monday against the Lakers.
DeMarre Carroll scored 16 points with 12 rebounds for the Hawks, but Atlanta center Al Horford was held to eight points on four-of-18 shooting.
Heat 108, Trail Blazers 104 Dwyane Wade scored 32 points to help the Miami Heat rally from an 11-point deficit in the second half to overcome the Portland Trail Blazers. With the Heat trailing by two points in the final minute, Wade hit two jumpers then added two free throws to score his team's final eight points and 15 in the fourth quarter.
Miami (31-36) is seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Spurs 114, Bucks 103 Danny Green scored 20 points, Tim Duncan had 19 and the San Antonio Spurs avoided losing three straight games to Eastern Conference opponents with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Thunder 122, Celtics 118 Russell Westbrook scored 36 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to victory over the Boston Celtics. Westbrook added 10 assists and five rebounds as the Thunder (38-30) moved a half game ahead of the idle New Orleans Pelicans for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Cavaliers 117, Nets 92 Kevin Love returned from a two-game absence with 10 points and 11 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers recovered from a sluggish start to easily handle the Brooklyn Nets.
In other games it was: Bulls 103, Pacers 86; Mavericks 107, Magic 102; Raptors 105, Timberwolves 100; 76ers 94, Pistons 83. — Agencies
