Warriors win big in Cousins’ debut

Stephen Curry scored 28 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 14 in his Golden State debut as the visiting Warriors extended their winning streak to seven games with a 112-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

Cousins, who missed nearly a year of action because of an Achilles injury, fouled out in just 15 minutes of court time. He shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds.

The Clippers dropped their fifth consecutive game.

Celtics 122, Grizzlies 116

Kyrie Irving stalled a rally with two consecutive jumpers and later added a game-clinching 3-pointer to cap a 38-point effort as host Boston held on to beat Memphis.

Marcus Smart and Al Horford also hit key late hoops to finish off high-scoring nights in helping the Celtics win their second straight and complete a two-game, season-series sweep of the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley had 26 points to pace the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth straight.

Spurs 116, 

Timberwolves 113

Marco Belinelli canned two crucial free throws with 4.2 seconds left to play, and LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 25 points as San Antonio outlasted Minnesota in Minneapolis in a game featuring 27 lead changes and 17 ties through the middle of the fourth quarter.

Gay scored 22 points for the Spurs, while Belinelli had 19 points, Derrick White added 15, and Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes poured in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for San Antonio, who have won two straight.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Rose led the Timberwolves with 23 points each. Wiggins tallied 17 points, while Teague had 15, Taj Gibson scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Josh Okogie contributed 10 points for Minnesota.

Trail Blazers 128, Pelicans 112

Damian Lillard scored 24 points while CJ McCollum and Jake Layman added 20 apiece as Portland downed visiting New Orleans.

Jusuf Nurkic contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who extended their home winning streak to six games. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 15 points and Maurice Harkless had 12 for Portland.

Anthony Davis scored 27 points, Jrue Holiday chipped in 20 points and Julius Randle collected 19 points and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who fell to 6-19 on the road this season. New Orleans have lost three of four overall.

Pistons 98, Heat 93

Blake Griffin collected 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Detroit overcame the early departure of Andre Drummond to edge visiting Miami.

Luke Kennard scored 22 points off the bench and Reggie Bullock had 19 for the Pistons. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 20 points and eight assists off the bench. Tyler Johnson contributed 16 points and Justise Winslow added 15 with nine rebounds.

Miami guard Josh Richardson missed the game due to an illness. The Pistons lost two key players in the opening half. Drummond, the league’s top rebounder, sustained a nasal injury when he was struck by a James Johnson elbow. Ish Smith departed shortly after entering the game due to groin tightness.

Nets 117, Magic 115

D’Angelo Russell scored a season-high 40 points to lead visiting Brooklyn to a comeback win over Orlando.

Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points for the Nets, who have a winning record for the first time this season, 24-23. Brooklyn, who trailed by 21 points in the second quarter Friday, was 10 games below .500 through December 5 but has gone 16-5 since.

Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 23 points, but he exited the game in the fourth quarter with lower back tightness and did not return. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

Jazz 115, Cavaliers 99

Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points as Utah rolled to an easy victory over Cleveland in Salt Lake City.

Rudy Gobert added 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and collected 15 rebounds as Utah extended their season-best winning streak to six games. 

Ante Zizic contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Collin Sexton also had 15 points.