SAN FRANCISCO: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors shoots the ball during the game against the LA Clippers on January 8, 2021 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: Stephen Curry scored 38 points as the Golden State Warriors rallied from a 22-point deficit to overpower the Los Angeles Clippers with a 115-105 victory on Friday in San Francisco. The Warriors used a 34-6 run over the third and fourth quarters to stun the Clippers and erase their big lead.

“We are a young team trying to find our identity and understand how we are going to win games,” Curry said. “A win like this gives us confidence that no matter how far out of it we are, we can turn it around.”

Curry drained nine three pointers as the Warriors avenged a loss to the Clippers on Wednesday when Curry was held to a season low 13 points. The Warriors made 20 threes in Friday’s contest. “It is perseverance and resilience on my part,” he said. “I credit my conditioning to be able to keep going and I use my basketball IQ to find those holes.”

Curry posted his third 30-point performance in the last four games, making 13 of his 24 shots and nine of his 14 three-point attempts. He also had 11 assists. Wiggins finished with 16 points for the Warriors, who shot 20-for-41 on three-pointers and outscored the Clippers 60-42 from beyond the arc. Paul George had a team-high 25 points and Kawhi Leonard 24 for the Clippers, who made 18 turnovers.

The Clippers led by 14 points at the half, and 85-63 late in the third quarter. Curry capped a 19 point third quarter with a 29 foot basket in the final seconds to give the Warriors a 87-81 lead. Golden State extended that to 97-91 early in the fourth but the Clippers tied it 97-97 with just over seven minutes left on the clock. Brad Wanamaker drained two threes and Andrew Wiggins made a clutch shot late to drown out any attempt by Los Angeles to rally late.

Elsewhere, Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points as the Utah Jazz handed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks their first loss at home this season with a 131-118 victory in Milwaukee. Jordan Clarkson added 26, Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 20 points, while Royce O’Neale added 18 points for the Jazz, who made a franchise record 25 three pointers and snapped a two-game losing skid. Mike Conley finished with a double-double, delivering 17 points and 10 assists.

Antetokounmpo scored 35 points and Khris Middleton added 31 to lead Milwaukee but their offensive prowess wasn’t enough to prevent the Bucks from dropping their first game at home in the new season. Antetokounmpo scored 16 of his 35 points in the first quarter. Once they got going there was no stopping the Jazz offence as they pulled away for good behind a 12-0 run to open the fourth quarter.

Strong game for LeBron

Also, LeBron James had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers held on for a 117-115 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls. Montrezl Harrell tallied 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who played without injured Anthony Davis, who is out with sore groin. Dennis Schroder also scored 17, while Wesley Matthews had 14 points and Markieff Morris added 11. Zach LaVine had 38 points and six assists for the Bulls.

In Detroit, Jerami Grant had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons stormed back from a 23-point first half deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 110-105 in overtime in Detroit. Grant has been red-hot lately as his 31 points equaled a career high which he established on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Delon Wright finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists and Blake Griffin also had 16 points for the Pistons who scored the first six points of overtime. Devin Booker led the Suns with 23 points and former Piston Langston Galloway had 17. — AFP