Stephen Curry scored 31 points and passed Dominique Wilkins for 18th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list as the Golden State Warriors erased a 25-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-95 on Friday night at Chase Center. Curry scored 17 of his 31 points after halftime, and the Warriors turned an early blowout into a 17-point win in their NBA Cup game.
Curry entered the game in 19th place with 26,643 career points, needing 26 points to pass Wilkins, who scored 26,668 regular-season points. He moved past Wilkins in the fourth quarter with a three pointer, the 26,669th point of his career. Oscar Robertson sits next on the list in 17th place with 26,710 points, and DeMar DeRozan sits at No. 16 with 26,763 points.
The comeback started after a dreadful first quarter. Luka Doncic scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the opening period, hitting five three pointers, as the Lakers raced ahead 38-15. Golden State then outscored Los Angeles by the same 38-15 score in the second quarter, tying the game 53-53 at halftime.
Curry leads the Warriors comeback
Golden State became the first team in the shot clock era, including the playoffs, to trail by 23 or more points at the end of the first quarter and be tied or better at halftime. The 17-point margin of victory was also the largest in the shot clock era for a team that trailed by 20 or more points at the end of the first quarter. The previous best came on March 4, 1976, when the Warriors trailed the Chicago Bulls 41-18 after one quarter and won by 14, 124-110.
Curry shot 11 of 23 from the field, including 8 of 14 from three point range, and added six assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block. He hit a three pointer over Doncic at the 6:22 mark of the third quarter, and the Warriors kept pulling away from there. Brandin Podziemski added 21 points, six assists and five rebounds, while De’Anthony Melton scored 16 off the bench and Georges Niang added 11.
Curry has now scored 75 points and hit 14 three pointers over his last two games. He entered Friday’s game averaging 28.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three point range, and his scoring burst in the second half turned a tight game into a comfortable win.
Doncic scores 37 in the Lakers loss
Doncic finished with 37 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the Lakers could not make it back-to-back blowouts against Golden State after winning the season opener between the teams last week in Los Angeles. Doncic was whistled for a technical foul with 21.8 seconds left in the third quarter, with fans chanting and booing at him, and teammate Matisse Thybulle received a technical in the fourth.
Los Angeles capitalized on 17 Golden State turnovers for 25 points, including 10 miscues from the Warriors in the opening period. That early carelessness helped the Lakers build the 25-point lead, but the turnovers dried up as Golden State settled down, and the Lakers had no answer for the Warriors bench in the second quarter.
The Lakers fell to 4-2 with the loss, while the Warriors improved to 3-3. Golden State’s bench came up big in the second quarter, and Curry took over after halftime as the Warriors kept building the lead through the second half.
Curry and the Warriors finish strong at home
Golden State outscored Los Angeles 38-15 in the second quarter, then kept the pressure on through the third and fourth quarters. Curry’s milestone basket came in the fourth, when the game was already decided, and the Warriors closed out the 112-95 win without any late drama.
The Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, and the Warriors host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. Curry will head into that game one spot higher on the scoring list, 36 points behind Robertson for 17th place.