Stephen Curry spent the first half hunting a rhythm that would not come. By the time the Golden State Warriors pulled away from the Miami Heat on Thursday night, the Chase Center scoreboard told a different story.
Curry finished with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range and 5 of 5 at the line, and Golden State beat Miami 120-100 for its sixth straight win. ESPN's box matches that line and lists one rebound, four assists, one steal and no turnovers in 28 minutes. The Warriors improved to 6-3 after opening the season 0-3.
Miami fell to 3-6.
A half that stayed even
The Heat looked sharper early. They led after one quarter, 29-26, and the teams traded the lead through a second period that ended tied at 53. The Associated Press had him 1-of-8 to start and 2-of-10 from the field by intermission - a cold stretch that left the game waiting for someone to break it open.
He still found a landmark before the break. With 7:03 left in the first quarter, Curry's first 3-pointer of the night pushed him ahead of Oscar Robertson's 26,710 points and into 17th on the league's all-time scoring chart, the AP wrote. The Warriors' game recap later framed the same make as the step that put him alone in that spot on the all-time list.
The third quarter decides it
Golden State seized the game after halftime. The Warriors outscored Miami 38-23 in the third, and the AP said the Heat were buried during a 26-9 stretch that they never answered.
The club's recap described a 20-4 Warriors run in the period and credited Curry with 14 points and three 3-pointers in the frame as Golden State built a double-digit lead it kept the rest of the night.
Curry's finishing numbers nearly made it four straight games with 30 or more. The AP noted he sat after the outcome was settled and just missed that mark. Draymond Green posted a season-high 11 assists with five rebounds.
Yaxel Lendeborg chipped in 17 points to go with eight boards and six dimes. Georges Niang scored 13 off the bench, and Will Richard, making his second start of the season, had 10.
