Warriors topple Kings for record 18-0 streak

OAKLAND, California – Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 19 points in the first quarter and Draymond Green had his second straight triple-double as the Golden State Warriors extended their NBA record to 18 straight wins at the start of a season Saturday night with a 120-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Leading by 10 points at halftime, the defending champion Warriors opened the third quarter with a 27-8 run that included four 3-pointers by Brandon Rush to build the lead to 29 points. The Kings never got close the rest of the game.

Green had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, becoming the first Warriors player with back-to-back triple-doubles since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964. A night earlier, he had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 135-116 win at Phoenix.

Rush had 16 points and Klay Thompson added 15 for the Warriors. Rudy Gay scored 20 points for Sacramento.

In San Antonio, forward Kawhi Leonard poured in 22 points and six San Antonio players scored in double-figures as the Spurs waylaid the Atlanta Hawks, 108-88, to remain undefeated at home.

Leonard, who did most of his damage with 15 points in the first half, led the Spurs in scoring for the sixth straight game. San Antonio (14-3) is 9-0 at the AT&T Center this season and has won 11 of its past 12 contests overall. They are entrenched atop the NBA Western Conference’s Southwest Division.

The Spurs have limited opponents to 88 points or less in 11 times this year and to an average of 83.4 points per game in their current five-game winning streak.

“We usually build as a team defensively, but this year we’ve started out very aggressively,” Spurs reserve guard Manu Ginobili said.

“We’ve always tried to play defense like this, and we are running back into transition better. We are much improved – now we’ve got to sustain it.”

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge and reserve guard Patty Mills added 13 points apiece for San Antonio, while Ginobili scored 12 points, guard Tony Parker hit for 11 points and forward Tim Duncan tallied 10 points and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds.

Atlanta (11-8, second place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division) was led by reserve forward Mike Scott’s 12 points.

“The defense was the key,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Tony (Parker) and Danny Green were great defensively on (Atlanta guards Jeff) Teague and (Kyle) Korver and that really set the tone for us. Those guys are really hard to guard, but they took the challenge tonight.”

Atlanta led 30-25 before the Spurs took command. Ginobili scored all eight of his first-half points in a 4:02 stretch that helped San Antonio move to a 41-32 advantage that grew to 54-37 by halftime. The Spurs outscored Atlanta 31-12 in the second quarter.

In other results, Toronto edged Washington, 84-82; Cleveland survived Brooklyn, 90-88; Dallas trounced Denver, 92-81; Utah routed New Orleans, 101-87; and the Portland Trail Blazers smothered the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-96.