OKLAHOMA CITY – Golden State’s Stephen Curry sank a 3-pointer from beyond 30 feet with 0.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Warriors a stunning 121-118 win at Oklahoma City on Saturday in a showdown between NBA divisional leaders.
The reigning league MVP’s match winner was his 12th 3-pointer of the contest, tying the league record for 3s in a game.
The victory kept the Warriors 3-1/2 games clear from their nearest rival San Antonio, which kept up the pressure by winning at Houston.
In other important results among the playoff contenders, Portland won at injury-stricken Chicago, and Boston continued its strong recent home form by defeating Miami.
The headlines belonged again to Curry, who finished with 46 points. His 12 3-pointers took his season tally to 288, breaking his own league record for a season, and Golden State has only played 58 games.
All that came despite missing about six minutes of the third quarter with a left ankle injury. He drove to the basket and rolled the ankle before Thunder guard Russell Westbrook stepped on it.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 37 points, but fouled out in the first minute of overtime.
Golden State’s extraordinary season has put San Antonio in the shade, but the Spurs became the equal seventh-fastest team to reach 50 wins in a season when they won 104-94 at Houston.
Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 26 for the Spurs, who finished 7-1 on their road trip. They never trailed against the Rockets, and pushed the lead out to 31 points in the second half before easing up.
San Antonio has now reached 50 wins in 17 consecutive seasons; a league record.
James Harden led the Rockets with 27 points on 10-for-25 shooting.
Boston stretched its home winning streak to 10 games by beating Miami 101-89.
Marcus Smart had 15 points while Jae Crowder and Evan Turner each added 14 points.
Goran Dragic led the Heat with 21 points but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Miami’s lead over Atlanta atop the Southeast Division was trimmed to half a game.
Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 31 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a 103-95 win at Chicago.
Lillard hit the 30-point mark for the sixth time in seven games, and Mason Plumlee added 16 points and nine rebounds for Portland.
The Bulls got a triple-double from Pau Gasol, but came up short with Derrick Rose (sore right hamstring) missing his third straight game. Gasol had 22 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists.
Detroit’s Andre Drummond posted his NBA-leading 50th double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds as the Pistons defeated Milwaukee 102-91.
Phoenix halted a 13-game losing sequence by downing Memphis 111-106, giving interim coach Earl Watson his first win after nine straight defeats.