Curry Out; Warriors Hold Off Blazers
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Stephen Curry's absence to hold off the Portland Trail Blazers 113-111 on Sunday night.
Curry didn't play because of the stomach flu, missing his first game of the season. Klay Thompson added 27 points for the Warriors, who have won 10 of their last 11 games.
CJ McCollum had 25 points for Portland, which had won its last three games. Golden State swept all four games against the Blazers this season.
The Blazers trailed by 10 points to start the fourth quarter, but McCollum's 3-pointer pulled the Blazers to 90-89 with 8:22 left. Al-Farouq Aminu's driving layup tied it at 93, but Portland couldn't manage to get in front.
Thompson's 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds gave the Warriors a 106-99 lead and appeared to seal it.
But McCollum's 3-pointer cut it to 109-107 with 17 seconds left, putting the crowd on its feet. After Thompson made two free throws, Evan Turner made a layup to keep Portland's hopes alive. Thompson again made free throws and Turner dunked.
Durant fouled with 5.5 seconds left to give the ball to Portland, but Turner's 3-point attempt was off and time ran out. Turner finished with 18 points.
Coach Steve Kerr said Curry was fine after Golden State's game against the Clippers on Saturday night but woke up ill Sunday morning. Curry is traveling with the team but stayed back at the hotel rather than go to Portland's Moda Center for the game.
The two-time NBA MVP scored 25 of his 43 points in the third quarter in the Warriors' 114-98 rout of the Clippers. He made a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to end the first half and made nine 3-pointers.
"Steph wanted to play, and it didn't make any sense. He was very, very sick and he wanted to tough it out," Kerr said. "It didn't make any sense from a personal standpoint for him to play, nor from a team standpoint for him to come into the locker room and get other guys sick. So hopefully he can knock this out in the next few days."
Shawn Livingston started in Curry's place.
Durant's 3-pointer put the Warriors up 20-10 early, and they led 33-24 going into the second quarter. Durant's running layup pushed the lead to 51-30.
Portland responded with a 20-2 run, capped by Damian Lillard's consecutive 3-pointers and Turner's reverse layup to pull the Blazers to 53-50 at the half. Durant led all scorers with 15, while McCollum had 14.
With back-to-back 3-pointers from Andre Iguodala, the Warriors stretched their lead to 84-72. But Portland rallied again and Maurice Harkless' dunk got the Blazers within 90-86 with 8:52 left.
Portland was without Ed Davis for the fourth straight game because of a left wrist injury. Harkless returned after missing a pair of games with a calf injury.
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