Golden State Warriors guard Stephen CurryRich Pedroncelli/The Associated Press
Pick a category: Defence. Shooting. Ball movement. Efficiency. Togetherness.
In four games this season, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings showed in just about every way how much of a difference there is between the NBA's Northern California clubs.
Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists, and the Warriors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Kings 121-96 on Tuesday night, sweeping the season series for the second straight year.
"They want to be all machos over there, but we just come out here and play our game. We always come out with a win," said Warriors reserve Marreese Speights, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.
Golden State shut down Sacramento for more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead. The Warriors went ahead by 21 at the half and 25 in the third quarter, then held off a brief Kings comeback.
Things got physical and feisty, at times, on the court. But none of it seemed to faze the visitors.
The Warriors had 33 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Kings had 17 assists and 18 turnovers. Golden State outshot Sacramento 50.5 per cent to 44.3 per cent and outscored Sacramento's bench 61 to 12.
"I love the box score. I love having a lot of different guys scoring and not having all the points concentrated on a few guys," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It just makes us hard to guard."
Sacramento snapped its eight-game losing streak with a win at Indiana on Saturday and had hoped to carry the momentum home.
Instead, about the only thing the Kings accomplished was quieting Klay Thompson – who had 14 points – after he scored an NBA-record 37 points in the third quarter and finished with 52 in Golden State's last game against Sacramento on Jan. 23.
DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings, who rallied within 11 late in the third quarter before the Warriors regrouped.
"Basically, their bench came in and did a great job," Cousins said. "They pushed the game ahead and made it tough for our whole team."
It was quite a way for the NBA-leading Warriors (38-8) to begin a stretch of four games in five nights, including three on the road. In all, five of their last six games before the All-Star break are away from home.
Golden State fell behind 22-14 with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter before smothering Sacramento (17-30) for a stunningly prolonged stretch.
The Warriors held the Kings scoreless for more than seven minutes and without a field goal for more than 8 1/2 minutes. Sacramento missed 10 consecutive shots and committed five turnovers until Jason Thompson's short jumper with 9:38 left in the second quarter.
The Warriors rolled into the half up 63-42, kept their pace-and-space attack moving after the break and moved ahead by 25 points in the third quarter.
Cousins helped Sacramento slice that lead to 11 late in the third before the Warriors got hot again. Curry hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter and the Warriors built back a big lead.
PISTONS 108, HEAT 91
AUBURN HILLS – D.J. Augustin had 25 points and 13 assists and the Detroit Pistons closed the first quarter on a 25-1 run, going on to beat the Miami Heat.
Chris Bosh scored 34 points, including 21 in the third quarter, but nobody else provided much help offensively for Miami, which was still without injured star Dwyane Wade. It was the first time in Bosh's five seasons with the Heat that they lost a regular-season game with him scoring at least 30 points. They had been 17-0.
Andre Drummond had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18. Greg Monroe had 12 points and nine rebounds.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, JAZZ 102
PORTLAND – Damian Lillard scored 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers, boosted by the return of centre Robin Lopez, held off the Utah Jazz.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 11 rebounds as Portland snapped a three-game losing streak.
After wrestling for the lead to start the fourth quarter, Wesley Matthews hit two straight 3-pointers and the Blazers went up 98-89 with 3:26 left.
Gordon Hayward's 3 closed the Jazz to within 99-96, but Lillard answered with a driving layup. Joe Ingles hit another 3 for the Jazz to pull within 101-99 with 9.9 seconds left.
Aldridge made free throws before Trey Burke hit a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds to go. Lillard missed his first free throw on the other end, then missed the second one intentionally and time ran out on Utah.
Hayward finished with 27 points for the Jazz.
CELTICS 108, KNICKS 97
NEW YORK – Avery Bradley scored 26 points, Jared Sullinger added 22 and the Boston Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak.
Bradley shot 11 for 14 from the field for the Celtics, who rediscovered their offence after a lineup change that put rookie Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Bradley. Smart made consecutive 3-pointers during the Celtics' 14-2 start, and they never trailed.
Sullinger finished with nine rebounds and six assists. Boston had been limited to just 86.7 points per game during its skid, including a season-low 75 in an eight-point loss to Miami on Sunday.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who had won five of seven during their best stretch of the season.
76ERS 105, NUGGETS 98
PHILADELPHIA – Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to the victory over the slumping Denver Nuggets.
Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds and Robert Covington added 17 points for the improving 76ers, who won their third straight home game for the first time since March 2013.
Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points to pace the Nuggets, who dropped their 10th in 11 games.
The 76ers were the laughingstock of the league while starting the season with 17 straight losses. But they have won three of five, with the two losses in competitive games on the road against Eastern Conference contenders Atlanta and Cleveland.