Basketball: Tired Warriors maintain their pace for Spurs test

The Warriors' Stephen Curry going to the basket as the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki tries to block him, with Deron Williams urging him on. Golden State won 130-112 and improved to 62-6.
The Warriors' Stephen Curry going to the basket as the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki tries to block him, with Deron Williams urging him on. Golden State won 130-112 and improved to 62-6. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

NEW YORK • Reigning National Basketball Association champions Golden State Warriors continued to roll towards the post-season with a win at Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

They improved to 62-6 with a 130-112 triumph.

The Warriors avenged one of their six defeats this season - a loss in Dallas on Dec 30 when reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry was sidelined with a minor injury.

This time Curry scored 31 points, Klay Thompson scored 39 and made 10 of 15 from three-point range, as the Warriors warmed up for their marquee match-up with the Spurs in San Antonio this morning (Singapore time).

The showdown between the two best in the West, neither of whom have lost at home yet this season, will see the Warriors without Australian big man Andrew Bogut.

He departed at half-time with a left big toe injury.

Coach Steve Kerr said Bogut would not play against the Spurs and in a nod to the fatigue his players are feeling, added: "If I had any guts, I'd sit everybody."

Curry, however, said the Warriors would be ready to go in San Antonio. "We'll be fine," he told ESPN. "They're playing really well right now and we have an opportunity to go in, and it's going to be a tough test for us."

The Warriors have won seven straight games and are now two games ahead of Chicago's pace when the Bulls set the NBA record with 72 wins in 1995-96, while the Spurs (58-10) have won 43 successive games on their home floor.

"A lot of talk about this record," Curry said. "It's there and we want to get there and do it the right way, but our mission from New Year's and even after the All-Star break was to continue to get better and reach our stride as we move towards the play-offs. I believe we're on that trend."

Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points for the Mavericks (34-35), who lost for the seventh time in eight games and dropped under .500 for the first time since Nov 11.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on March 20, 2016, with the headline Basketball: Tired Warriors maintain their pace for Spurs test. Subscribe