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Warriors, Rockets extend winning streaks

The Golden State Warriors shrugged off the absence of Stephen Curry to edge past the Portland Trail Blazers yesterday morning (Singapore time).

The injured Curry and Draymond Green were both missing from the Warriors line-up in Oakland, but Kevin Durant stepped up with 28 points as the NBA champions claimed a 111-104 win at the Oracle Arena.

Klay Thompson also grabbed 24 points for the Warriors, who recorded their seventh straight victory after overcoming a virtuoso performance from Portland's Damian Lillard, who finished with 39 points.

The Warriors remain second in the Western Conference standings with a 22-6 record behind first-placed Houston, who vanquished the New Orleans Pelicans 130-123 at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets had a late scoring spree from guards James Harden and Chris Paul to thank for the win, which saw them overturn a 13-point third-quarter deficit to claim a 10th straight victory.

Harden scored 26 points - 12 of them in the fourth quarter - while also notching a career-high 17 assists. Paul also left his scoring late, with 16 of 20 points in the fourth.

Harden later revealed that he had urged Paul to raise the tempo in the fourth quarter.

"I told him to be aggressive. He was passive throughout the entire game," Harden said of Paul.

"He then made some big threes, got to the basket a couple times and gave us momentum." - AFP

OTHER RESULTS:

LA Clippers 96 Toronto 91, Chicago 108 Boston 85, Memphis 82 Miami 107, Oklahoma 103 Charlotte 116

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