By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 16 points, capitalizing on Stephen Curry’s sharp passing night that featured 11 assists, and the Golden State Warriors ran away from the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers for a 119-97 win on Tuesday night, Jan. 13.
Curry scored seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and notched his second game of the season with 10 or more assists, the 148th of his career. Butler also had six rebounds and five assists.
De’Anthony Melton scored a season-best 23 points off the bench for his fifth game in the last six reaching double figures and fourth in a row — and his second 20-point performance. Gui Santos contributed a career-high four steals.
Shaedon Sharpe scored 19 points and Caleb Love 17 and seven assists for the Blazers, who had won all three previous matchups this season but were missing leading scorer Deni Avdija — and his 26.1 points per game — because of lower back soreness and started a pair of two-way players.
Portland lost a second straight after a defeat to New York on Sunday night that ended a five-game winning streak.
Golden State, coming off a 124-111 loss to the Hawks on Sunday night that snapped a three-game home winning streak, held a season-best 26-point halftime advantage.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder beat San Antonio, 119-98, to earn their first win in four tries against the Spurs this season.
Jalen Williams added 20 points and Chet Holmgren chipped in eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Oklahoma City. The Thunder improved to a league-best 34-7 at the midway point of the season — on pace to match last season’s 68-14 regular-season finish.
Stephon Castle scored 20 points and Victor Wembanyama added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs.
San Antonio started the night in second place behind Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs announced their presence as a title contender with the three wins over the Thunder in a two-week span last month, but now they have lost six of 10.
In Miami, Bam Adebayo scored 29 points, including three long jumpers in the final minutes, and Norman Powell added 27 as the Heat squandered a 20-point lead before recovering to beat the Phoenix Suns, 127-121.
Powell hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to put Miami ahead for good, and Andrew Wiggins made a pair of free throws to seal the game after Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks was called for a flagrant foul with 11.5 seconds remaining.
Adebayo pushed his career total to 9,461 points — two more than Alonzo Mourning for No. 2 on Miami’s list, with Dwyane Wade’s 21,556 points the franchise record. Tyler Herro scored 23 for Miami, which snapped a three-game slide.
Brooks and Grayson Allen each scored 25 for Phoenix, which had won three straight. Devin Booker finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Suns, while Mark Williams added 18 points and 14 rebounds.
