HOUSTON — Stephen Curry scored 32 points, Klay Thompson had 25 and the Golden State Warriors built a big lead early and held on for a 113-106 win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
The Warriors scored 37 points in the first quarter and never trailed on the way to their eighth straight victory and 60th this season.
Golden State led by eight after a pair of free throws by Curry with just over three minutes left. Patrick Beverley countered with a tip-in layup for Houston, then was fouled when he was knocked to the ground on a screen by Draymond Green seconds later.
James Harden missed a layup on the next possession before Green added a shot on the other end to put the Warriors up 107-99.
Another layup miss by Harden followed, and Curry made a 3-pointer with 1:46 left to send fans streaming to the exits.
HEAT 97, PISTONS 96: Hassan Whiteside tipped in a shot at the buzzer to lift Miami past host Detroit.
Miami is a game up on Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and 21/2 games ahead of Detroit.
Whiteside jumped over Andre Drummond to tip in Goran Dragic’s missed jumper. The final play was reviewed and confirmed.
Dragic scored 28 points for the Heat.
HAWKS 95, SUNS 91: Dennis Schroder hit consecutive 3-pointers to spark a 17-1 run in the fourth quarter that carried the host Hawks past Phoenix, snapping a seven-game losing streak and boosting Atlanta’s playoff hopes.
The Suns lost their ninth in a row in a matchup of teams with the two longest active losing streaks in the NBA.
Atlanta played without All-Star forward Paul Millsap and two other key players, while the Suns were missing Devin Booker because of an ankle injury that he aggravated in his 70-point performance.
BUCKS 118, HORNETS 108: Tony Snell scored a season-high 26 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and eight rebounds and Milwaukee handed the Hornets’ playoff hopes a potentially devastating blow with a victory at Charlotte, North Carolina.
TIMBERWOLVES 115, PACERS 114: Ricky Rubio made three free throws with 3.4 seconds left to give Minnesota a win at Indianapolis.
Minnesota snapped a season-high six-game losing streak by taking its only lead of the quarter.
Rubio had 21 points and 10 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 37 points and 12 rebounds.
Indiana’s Monta Ellis got off a last-second 3-point shot, but he was off the mark.
76ERS 106, NETS 101: Dario Saric scored 23 points, Robert Covington had 21 points and 13 rebounds and undermanned Philadelphia won at New York.
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