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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry drives to the basket as Miami Heat guard Shabazz Napier defendsSteve Mitchell

So much for Stephen Curry's mini-shooting slump.

Curry scored 40 points on 11-of-18 shooting, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat 114-97 on Tuesday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

"You just feel a rhythm," said Curry, who was 8 for 24 in his previous two games. "I had guys set some great screens early to kind of get me going. You start finding shots and it feels good. Even the ones I missed terribly felt good, which is pretty funny."

Klay Thompson had 24 points for the Warriors, who shot 57 per cent. Curry finished 8 of 11 from 3-point range.

"You always stay confident, stay ready," Curry said. "You win games all sorts of ways with different individual performances. How we shot last game had nothing to do with this game. If we execute our offence well, you're going to get good shots."

Golden State scored 14 straight points to open a 107-95 lead with 2:50 to go. Curry and Thompson capped the run with consecutive 3-pointers.

"The beauty of this team is we can play both ends," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We have the personnel to score. We have the personnel to guard."

Chris Bosh scored 26 points for Miami, and Luol Deng had 16. James Ennis' dunk with 9:11 left was the Heat's last field goal.

"They played their best basketball in the fourth quarter," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We got caught up in some tough possessions. Their defence really stepped up and then they started to score and we just weren't able to sustain from there."

Miami led by 16 in the first half but Golden State closed the second quarter with a 23-8 surge. Draymond Green made two free throws with 9.8 seconds left to cut the Heat's lead to 62-61 at the break.

Golden state carried the momentum over to the second half. Curry hit three 3 pointers in the third period and his two free throws with 58.2 seconds remaining put Golden State head, 89-82.

"Second half – everybody was more in tune," Kerr said. "We got to their 3-point shooters. We ran them off the line. In the end, we got it rolling."

Harrison Barnes finished with 12 points and Andrew Bogut had 10 rebounds for the Warriors. Bogut started after sustaining a right orbital bone contusion on Sunday.

The Heat got off to a nice start, opening a 31-22 lead on Mario Chalmers' corner 3-pointer with 1:51 left in the first quarter.

"I don't really get what we think or what we do down the stretch against good teams, the elite teams," Bosh said. "For some reason we just forget everything – offence and defence execution."

NUGGETS 114, BULLS 109

DENVER – Ty Lawson scored 20 points, including a key jumper in the waning seconds, and Denver earned its fifth straight win.

Arron Afflalo added 19 points and Danilo Gallinari had 15 for the Nuggets, who defeated the Bulls for the eighth straight time in Denver.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose was limited to 10 minutes in his second game back from a left hamstring strain. Rose, who scored 18 points in his return Monday night against Utah after a four-game absence, felt tightness in the hamstring during the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the way.

Jimmy Butler had 32 points for Chicago, and Pau Gasol finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

HAWKS 106, WIZARDS 102

WASHINGTON – Reserves Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack led a fourth-quarter surge for the Hawks.

Scott and Mack scored Atlanta's first 16 points of the final period, sparking a 22-5 run that built a 14-point lead before the Wizards hit a spate of 3-pointers to make the final score close. Scott finished with 17 points in 23 minutes, and Mack had 13 in 19 for the Hawks, who have won six of eight.

Jeff Teague scored 28 points, and Paul Millsap had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta.

John Wall had 21 points and 13 assists, and Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who committed a season-high 25 turnovers.

KINGS 99, PELICANS 89

NEW ORLEANS – DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals, leading the Kings to their third straight win.

Omri Casspi also scored 22 for Sacramento. Casspi, who made his first start of the season in place of the injured Rudy Gay, was with New Orleans for a brief stretch this off-season before being released in a salary-cap move.

New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was held to 14 points after he scored 28 in a victory over the Kings last Tuesday. He also had nine rebounds and blocked two shots.

Tyreke Evans had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assist for the Pelicans, who were 3 for 17 from 3-point range.

BUCKS 98, PISTONS 86

MILWAUKEE – Brandon Knight had 20 points and eight assists to spark the Bucks to the victory.

O.J. Mayo, making his first start of the season, added 17 points as Milwaukee (8-7) avoided its first three-game slide of the season. Rookie Jabari Parker contributed 14 points and nine rebounds.

Detroit (3-11) has lost five in a row and eight of nine.

Andre Drummond had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, and Greg Monroe added 15 points and eight boards. Drummond was averaging 8.7 points coming into the night, but shot 11 of 15 from the floor.

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