Curry scores 39 to power Warriors over Nets

NEW YORK: Stephen Curry scored a season-high 39 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed out seven assists before fouling out Sunday as the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors won 118-111 at Brooklyn.
A day after rallying from a 24-point deficit to beat Philadelphia, the Warriors surged ahead by as many as 28 points early in the second half before the Nets battled back and Curry was out for the last three minutes.
“It was a good learning experience for him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “I thought, obviously, he was brilliant in terms of his scoring and shot-making. I thought his second half, he got a little wild.
“We had to withstand their run, and luckily we did with good execution in the last few minutes after Steph Curry went out.”The Warriors improved to 13-4, matching Houston for the best record in the Western Conference with their ninth victory in 10 games, despite the absence of star forward Kevin Durant with a left ankle sprain.
Curry said trying to be aggressive with Durant out led to his 11th career fouling out in the NBA.“You’d love to have those plays back, but I loved the aggressiveness I had on those possessions,” Curry said. “You don’t like to foul out, but it was kind of how I tried to bring that intensity the whole game.”
Golden State’s Klay Thompson had 23 points and 10 rebounds and sank a 3-pointer in his 71st consecutive game while Allan Crabbe had 25 points to lead the Nets (6-10), who suffered their eighth loss in 11 games.
Durant and Washington guard John Wall were sidelined Sunday with injuries.Durant, who suffered a sprained left ankle in the Warriors’ 124-116 victory Saturday at Philadelphia, is averaging 24.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 15 games.