WASHINGTON - Klay Thompson scored 26 points, Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut connected on a trick play worthy of the NBA’s slam dunk contest, and the Golden State Warriors have their longest in-season winning streak since 1975 after Sunday night’s 112-96 victory over the Washington Wizards.
The Warriors won their ninth in a row by turning the third quarter into a laugher, opening the period with a 30-5 run that included a sequence in which Curry drove into the paint and sent the ball flying out of his hand and off the backboard above the rim. The carom went right to a leaping Bogut, who timed the play perfectly for a dunk, then stared at his right hand with mouth agape as he ran down court.
The Warriors hadn’t won nine consecutive in the same season since a 10-game run from Dec. 6-23, 1975. They also had a nine-game regular season winning streak that overlapped the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. Golden State is 5-0 on its season-long, seven-game, 13-day road trip and moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers atop the Pacific Division.
Curry and Thompson topped John Wall and Bradley Beal in the battle of the two highest-scoring backcourts in the NBA. Curry scored 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting, but the league’s most turnover-prone player had 10 assists and only two giveaways. Thompson was 9 for 14 from the field, including 6 for 9 from three-point range.
David Lee added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Bogut finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Sports, Pages 18 on 01/06/2014