DALLAS – The Golden State Warriors flopped without Stephen Curry, getting blown out for just their second loss of the season behind 23 points for Dallas’ J.J. Barea in a 114-91 victory for the Mavericks on Wednesday.
Curry missed his first game of the season with a lower left leg bruise that might keep the NBA’s leading scorer and reigning MVP out again Thursday at Houston. But the Warriors (29-2) still have the best 31-game start in NBA history, a game better than four teams.
Klay Thompson, the other half of the Splash Brothers, couldn’t make up for Curry’s absence, going 4 of 15 for 10 points. Ian Clark led the Warriors with 21.
Zaza Pachulia had 14 points and 15 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki added 18 and eight boards for the Mavericks, who won their fourth straight game without injured point guard Deron Williams.
The 23-point margin was Golden State’s worst defeat since a 31-point loss to Houston in 2013, according to STATS. The worst loss during the title run last season was 15.
The Mavericks went up by 30 at 83-53 on a 3-pointer by Wesley Matthews, who had 13 points. The Warriors, who fell behind for good with 8 minutes left in the first quarter, didn’t get closer than 17 after that.
Barea had at least 23 points for the third time in four games.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Spurs routed the Phoenix Suns 112-79 for their 19th straight home win to start the season.
San Antonio successfully rang out an eventful 2015 that saw them add Aldridge in free agency after being bounced from the opening round of the playoffs and open the season with a franchise record home winning streak.
The Spurs also extended their franchise-record home winning streak to 28 straight games dating to last season.
Kawhi Leonard had 19 points, Manu Ginobili added 13 and Tony Parker had 12 points and seven assists for San Antonio.
Tim Duncan missed his third straight game due to right knee soreness, but he wasn’t needed in a game where Aldridge, Leonard and Parker all sat out the fourth quarter.
San Antonio led by as many as 38 points and never trailed after Phoenix scored the opening basket.
Jimmy Butler tipped in a basket with 1.2 seconds left in overtime and the Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 102-100 despite playing without Derrick Rose.
Butler scored 28 points and Aaron Brooks had 29 points to help Chicago win its third in four games. Chicago got 52 points from its bench and held Indiana to 38.1 percent shooting from the field. Pau Gasol had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Rose was scratched an hour before the game with right hamstring tendinitis.
Brooks’ floater with 58.7 seconds left gave Chicago a 100-95 advantage. Solomon Hill made two free throws, and Brooks’ turnover set up Monta Ellis’ tying 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left.
On the final play, Butler tipped in Gasol’s lob from atop the key. Butler then defended Paul George on a lob to preserve the win.