NBA Wrap: Warriors ground Rockets; Pistons tame Bulls

HOUSTON — Stephen Curry scored 25 points and the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 112-92 on Friday night (Saturday Manila time) in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.

Curry listened to the crowd frequently rain down "MVP! MVP!" chants on Rockets guard James Harden. But Curry outscored him 25-16 and got the win again, just as he did in the real MVP vote and in the Warriors' five-game victory that sent them to the NBA Finals.

The reigning champions improved to 2-0 and the Rockets fell to 0-2.

Harden struggled with his shot for a second straight game. The MVP runner-up finished 4 of 18, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range, but added seven rebounds and five assists.

Dwight Howard had nine points and seven rebounds for Houston in his first game after serving a one-game suspension for getting a fourth flagrant foul in the postseason.

THUNDER 139, MAGIC 136, 2OT

ORLANDO, Fla.  — Russell Westbrook banked in a 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt at the end of regulation on his way to 48 points, Kevin Durant scored 43 points, and Oklahoma City outlasted Orlando.

Westbrook added 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Durant had 12 rebounds.

Orlando had a chance to tie it with 6 seconds to play, but twice had 3-point attempts blocked.

Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 18, but outscored the Magic 42-24 in the fourth quarter. Westbrook had 14 points in the extra periods.

Tobias Harris led the Magic with 30 points, and Nik Vucevic added 26.

CAVALIERS 102, HEAT 92

CLEVELAND  — LeBron James scored 29 points, Kevin Love added 24 points and 14 rebounds and Cleveland beat Miami in the Cavaliers' home opener.

James was 13 of 19 from the field for Cleveland.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 25 points, and Chris Bosh had 16. James, Wade and Bosh played in the same regular-season game for the first time since they were teammates in Miami.

James, who said Friday he planned on playing in all 82 games, showed no signs of the back troubles that sidelined him in training camp. He had five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes.

PISTONS 98, BULLS 94, OT

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.  — Marcus Morris scored 26 points, Andre Drummond had 20 points and 20 rebounds and Detroit beat Chicago to improve to 3-0.

The Pistons are 3-0 for the first time since winning their first four games in 2008-09. They have been impressive on defense so far, and they held Chicago's Derrick Rose scoreless until the fourth quarter.

Detroit scored the first seven points of overtime, taking a 90-83 lead on Anthony Tolliver's 3-pointer.

Rose finished with eight points, and Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 23.

TIMBERWOLVES 95, NUGGETS 78

DENVER  — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 14 rebounds and Minnesota beat Denver.

Andrew Wiggins added 18 points despite a sore back to help the Timberwolves follow up a season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers with another road victory. They have been playing with heavy hearts since coach Flip Saunders died Sunday after complications from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Emmanuel Mudiay scored 15 points for the Nuggets in coach Michael Malone's home debut.

SPURS 102, NETS 75

SAN ANTONIO  — Kawhi Leonard had 16 points, Tim Duncan added 15 and San Antonio regrouped after a sluggish start to beat Brooklyn.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points, primarily on follows of missed shots as he continues to find his place in the Spurs' offense. Brook Lopez had 17 points to lead Brooklyn.

HAWKS 97, HORNETS 94

ATLANTA — Dennis Schroder made Atlanta's two-point guard lineup look good by scoring 14 points and the Hawks held off Charlotte.

Kent Bazemore led Atlanta with 19 points and Paul Millsap and Al Horford each had 18. Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

KINGS 132, LAKERS 114

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rajon Rondo had 21 points and eight assists and DeMarcus Cousins added 21 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento.

With Rondo running the offense and benefiting from Los Angeles turnovers, the Kings had a 24-point lead at halftime and continued to pad the lead in the third quarter.

Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 13 points in 22 minutes.

WIZARDS 118, BUCKS 113

MILWAUKEE — Bradley Beal scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and Washington overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Milwaukee.

Ramon Sessions scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Wizards. John Wall had 19 points and 10 assists.

Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half after returning from a one-game suspension to open the season.

RAPTORS 113, CELTICS 103

BOSTON — DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and Terrence Ross had 13 of his 21 in the fourth quarter to help Toronto beat Boston.

DeMarre Carroll scored 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter and Kyle Lowry finished with 14 points and nine assists for the Raptors. Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 25 points.

JAZZ 99, 76ERS 71

PHILADELPHIA — Derrick Favors had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Utah past Philadelphia.

Rodney Hood added 17 points, and the Jazz used multiple 13-0 runs to build a 32-point lead. Jerami Grant and Nik Stauskas each had 12 points for the 76ers.

SUNS 110, TRAIL BLAZERS 92

PHOENIX — Eric Bledsoe scored 22 points, backcourt mate Brandon Knight added 18 and Phoenix pulled away in the second half to roll past Portland.

Tyson Chandler set the tone after Phoenix's lackluster season debut against Dallas, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. He finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

T.J. Warren added 17 points for Phoenix on a night when the Suns inducted Steve Nash into the franchise's Ring of Honor.

Damian Lillard led Portland with 24 points on 7-of-20 shooting. C.J. McCollum added 16, making just 7 of 22 shots. Al-Farouq Aminu added 16 points and Mason Plumlee 15 for the Blazers.