Curry’s 35 points send Warriors past Raptors, 129-117

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) — Stephen Curry had 35 points and 11 assists, and the GoldenState Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors 129-117 on Fridaynight.

Thehigh-scoring affair was close until the Warriors pulled away with a31-point fourth quarter, securing a sweep in the season series.

“It feelslike we took better care of the ball tonight,” Golden State coachSteve Kerr said. “When Steph plays like that, the whole game opensup. The whole floor opens up.”

Klay Thompsonadded 29 points, knocking down six 3-pointers despite beginning thenight 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. Though Thompson played in theWarriors’ 126-110 victory in Toronto on Dec. 18, the game Fridaywas his first time facing the Raptors at home since he tore his ACLin his left knee in the deciding Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals wonby Toronto in Oakland.

Kevon Looneyreturned to the starting lineup and had 12 points and eight boardsas six Warriors players scored in double figures.

The Warriorshave won consecutive home games after dropping four straight at theChase Center.

“We’ve beenteetering on either side of .500 for a very long time. I’m kind ofsick of it at this point,” Curry said. “(We’ve) got to figure outhow to keep moving in the right direction and stack wins no matterhow we can get ’em.”

GoldenState’s bench outscored Toronto’s 39-26, highlighted by 15 pointsfrom Jonathan Kuminga. The 20-year-old missed his first three shotsfrom deep before making four straight 3s in the final three minutesof the third quarter, giving the Warriors a 98-94 lead they did notrelinquish.

“He justshowed another element to his game that some might have doubted,”Thompson said. “To get on the hot streak he did was veryimpressive, and for that man, the sky’s the limit for histalent.”

DonteDiVincenzo had a career-high 11 assists and the Warriors outscoredthe Raptors by 24 points in his 33 minutes off the bench.

“We knew whatwe were coming up against, and we’ve had fairly good successguarding and executing, and tonight we just didn’t do it,” Torontocoach Nick Nurse said. “We missed a lot of communication, we justgot beat physically.”

Fred VanVleethad 28 points and 10 assists for the Raptors, who began theirseason-high, seven-game road trip 1-1. Scottie Barnes had 24 pointsand Pascal Siakam had 21, while Gary Trent Jr. added 17.

PreciousAchiuwa contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

CURRYFINED

Curry wasfined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for throwing his mouthpiece intothe stands in a moment of frustration during the Warriors’ 122-120win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday. Curry was whistled for hisfifth technical foul of the season and subsequently ejected fromthe game.

TIP-INS

Raptors:Achiuwa’s double-double was his third in his last four games. ...Entering Friday, Toronto ranked second in the league in opponentturnovers — forcing 16.8 per game — but only induced 12 GoldenState turnovers. ... The Raptors have gone 2-7 in the first game ofback-to-backs and 3-5 in the second game this season after postingwinning records in both categories in 2021-22.

Warriors: FAndrew Wiggins missed his second straight game with a non-COVIDillness. ... Golden State logged a season-high 40 assists. ... GJordan Poole scored a career-high 43 points on Dec. 18 vs. Torontobut was held to just nine on 4-of-8 shooting Friday. ... Curryreceived his ninth All-Star nod Thursday and is the only player infranchise history with nine starts in the league showcase.