LOS ANGELES—The Golden State Warriors bounced back in a big way Wednesday, romping to a wire-to-wire 123-92 NBA victory over the under-manned Chicago Bulls in Oakland.
Klay Thompson celebrated his 27th birthday by sinking six three-pointers en route to a game-high 28 points for the Warriors, who were shocked by the Kings in Sacramento on Saturday.
The Warriors haven’t lost back-to-back games since April of 2015.
Kevin Durant scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out seven assists and Draymond Green added 19 points as the Warriors improved their league-leading record to 44-8.
Stephen Curry had a quiet night, scoring 13 points to see his streak of consecutive games of 20 or more end at 16.
That didn’t matter against a Bulls team missing All-Star forward Jimmy Butler because of a bruised heel and veteran guard Dwyane Wade, who stayed at the team hotel because of an upper respiratory illness.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 12 games with a 106-88 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and James Johnson added 20 for Miami, who held Milwaukee to 47.1 percent shooting.
The Heat were a slightly better 47.7 percent from the floor, but made 11 of 33 three-point attempts and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.
The defeat was especially painful for the Bucks, who saw Jabari Parker depart with a sprained left knee after a drive to the basket in the third quarter.
Parker, who scored 14 points, had to be helped off the court and didn’t return.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ dominant defense was on display in a 110-91 home win over the Phoenix Suns.
The Grizzlies held the Suns to 33 percent shooting—21.7 percent from three-point range—in a game that saw three players tossed late in the fourth quarter.
Devin Booker, who led the Suns with 20 points, fouled Memphis reserve Troy Daniels with 1:10 remaining. Their heated exchange drew in a welter of players, with Daniels shoving Phoenix’s Tyler Ulis before officials and coaches stepped in.
Ulis, Suns teammate Marquese Chriss and Daniels were ejected and a total of six technical fouls handed out.
“You talk trash sometimes,” Booker said. “I don’t know why he’d be talking to me. He’s been on five teams in three years and he has the nerve to talk trash to me?”
Courtside in New York, former Knick Charles Oakley was restrained by Madison Square Garden security personnel and then taken into custody by police after an angry outburst.
It was just the latest melodrama connected to the Knicks, who led by 10 early in the fourth quarter only to lose 119-115 to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The San Antonio Spurs, second in the West and behind the Warriors, didn’t live up to coach Gregg Popovich’s high standards but still pulled off a 111-103 victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia.
“We didn’t play a good 48 minutes,” Popovich said. “We played good the last three, four, five. We didn’t move that well. We didn’t get that many assists. We held the ball. We turned it over. It was very disappointing.”
Nevertheless, the Spurs never trailed, shooting 52.7 percent from the field and making 11 of their 22 three-point attempts as they improved to 40-12.
All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points for the Spurs.
The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers snapped the Indiana Pacers’ seven-game winning streak with a 132-117 triumph in Indianapolis.
Kyrie Irving and Kyle Korver scored 29 points apiece and LeBron James added 25 for the Cavaliers, who rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to win their fourth in a row.
The Boston Celtics saw their seven-game winning streak end, falling 108-92 to the Kings in Sacramento.