By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jimmy Butler had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Quinten Post contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat the short-handed Indiana Pacers, 114-83, on Sunday night, Nov. 9.
Stephen Curry missed his third straight game with a bad cold and had been listed as questionable with an illness. He was set to go through a workout Sunday and again Monday, then travel with the team in hopes he would return Tuesday at Oklahoma City.
Al Horford added 12 points and four rebounds off the bench and Golden State used a 13-0 spurt spanning the third and fourth quarters and 21-7 run to pull away down the stretch.
Andrew Nembhard scored 14 points and dished out four of his nine assists in the second quarter for Indiana.
Indiana rested power forward Pascal Siakam for the second game of a tough road back-to-back and also missed forward Aaron Nesmith after he bruised his right forearm going for a rebound in a 117-100 defeat Saturday at Denver. Nesmith scored a career-best 31 points on 10-for-19 shooting in the earlier matchup with the Warriors.
The Warriors improved to 5-0 at home, where they had lost the last six to the Pacers — the only remaining team yet to lose in the team’s seventh-year Chase Center. Golden State last beat Indiana at home on March 21, 2019, at Oracle Arena.
Indiana had won four straight matchups in the series overall, including 114-109 at home on Nov. 1.
Isaiah Jackson had a foul upgraded to a Flagrant 1 against Brandin Podziemski midway through the second and Indiana (1-9) lost its fourth in a row since the team’s only victory against Golden State. Podziemski finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Pacers missed their initial eight 3-point attempts before Monte Morris connected at the 1:49 mark of the opening period.
Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Kevin Durant scored 31 points and made a tiebreaking basket with 1:42 remaining to put the Houston Rockets ahead for good in a 122-115 victory over the Bucks.
Houston bounced back from a 121-110 loss at San Antonio two nights earlier as it ended a three-game trip. The Rockets, who have won six of their last seven, are now at home for their next three games.
Durant shot 11 of 15 from the floor and had a season-high seven assists. Alperen Sengun had 23 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jabari Smith and Reed Sheppard added 16 points each.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and eight rebounds for Milwaukee, but went 1 of 4 from the foul line in the game’s final 89 seconds. The Bucks ended up shooting 14 of 24 from the line.
Earlier in Sacramento, Anthony Edwards had 26 points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 144-117 win over the Kings.
Edwards shot 7 for 16 from the field, 5 for 11 from 3-point range and made 7 of 8 shots from the line. He was coming off a 37-point effort in a 137-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday. In his last two games, Edwards has hit 12 of 23 shots from 3-point distance.
Jaden McDaniels scored 21 points and Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert added 19 points apiece for the Timberwolves (6-4). Naz Reid scored 13 points off the bench. Gobert added 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Zach LaVine scored 26 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 22 for the Kings (3-7), who lost for the third time in four games. Domantas Sabonis had 20 points and 13 rebounds after missing the last two games due to rib soreness.
