Los Angeles - Stephen Curry followed up his record-setting night on Tuesday with an encore performance of 30 points in Boston as the Golden State Warriors held on to beat the Celtics 111-107 on Friday night.
Curry's Warriors survived to win a tight game down the stretch after Golden State blew a 20-point lead against the undermanned Celtics.
One game after breaking Ray Allen's all-time record for threes, Curry was facing Allen's former team at the Boston Garden arena.
With his second-made basket on Wednesday, Curry eclipsed Allen's record with his 2,974th career three-pointer with 7:33 left in the opening quarter.
The historic moment came at Madison Square Garden where the game was halted as Curry shared an embrace with teammates, his father, Dell Curry, and Allen.
On Friday, Curry nailed consecutive threes on his first two shots of the game, giving the Warriors an 11-point lead just four minutes in.
Andrew Wiggins added 27 points, Andre Iguodala chipped in 12 points, Draymond Green tallied a team-high eight assists for the Warriors, who have won five of their last six games.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good 😂 @StateFarm || Assist of the Night pic.twitter.com/cCyNUSvyF5
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 18, 2021
Jayson Tatum had 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead Boston, which has dropped five of its last seven.
Boston was missing starting centre Al Horford and forwards Grant Williams, Jabari Parker, Juancho Hernangomez and Sam Hauser, all because of the league's Covid-19 measures.
Celtics guard Dennis Schroder also missed the game with a non-Covid illness. Boston guard Romeo Langford left the game with neck pain in the second quarter and did not return.
Warriors star Klay Thompson (right Achilles tendon) remained sidelined with the injury despite being recalled from farm team affiliate Santa Cruz.
In Florida, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent delivered career high performances as the Miami Heat rolled over the short-handed Orlando Magic 115-105.
Strus scored 23 of his 32 points in the opening half and Vincent finished with 27 as Miami sent the Magic to their seventh straight loss.
The Magic had just 12 players on their roster because of injuries and Covid-19 protocols.
Mo Bamba, Terrence Ross, Moe Wagner, R.J. Hampton and Ignas Brazdeikis were placed into the league's health and safety protocols. Another six players were sidelined by injury, including leading scorer Cole Anthony (ankle) and rookie guard Jalen Suggs (fractured thumb).
Strus made a career-high eight threes and Vincent sank four, while Miami converted 19 of 35 triples.
P.J. Tucker scored 15 points, Dewayne Dedmon finished with 13 points and Kyle Lowry totaled 11 points and a season-high 15 assists.
Franz Wagner paced Orlando with 27 points.
Miami led 93-83 entering the fourth quarter, as Vincent netted 18 third-quarter points.
The Heat came into Friday's game with six players out, including leading scorers Jimmy Butler (tailbone), Tyler Herro (quadriceps) and Bam Adebayo (thumb).
AFP