LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Stephen Curry scored 37 points as the Golden State Warriors spoiled Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay Area with a thrilling 120-117 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Cup on Tuesday.
Thompson — a beloved member of four NBA championship-winning Golden State teams before joining Dallas in July — received a rapturous welcome in his first game back in San Francisco since his departure.
The 34-year-old was given a guard of honor by cheering Golden State staff upon his arrival at the Chase Center before fans wearing nautical caps roared their appreciation for the player who famously used to commute to work in his fishing boat.
But despite delighting the home crowd with six three-pointers in a 22-point haul, Thompson was upstaged by former teammate Curry who produced a stunning fourth-quarter performance to drag the Warriors over the line.
The Mavericks looked poised to snatch victory after battling into a six-point lead at 114-108 with just over three minutes remaining.
But Curry then took over with 10 unanswered points — including one sensational step-back three from 28 feet — to put Golden State into a 118-114 lead, before adding two late free throws to seal the win.
“There was a lot of emotion but both teams wanted to win,” Curry told TNT television.
“It was a playoff-like atmosphere, with great players making great plays. That’s why we love the competition.”
Luka Doncic led Dallas’s scorers with 31 points while Kyrie Irving added 21.
In other games, Joel Embiid made his long-awaited first appearance of the season but was unable to prevent the Philadelphia 76ers from sliding to a 111-99 defeat to the New York Knicks.
Embiid missed the first six games of the season as the team managed his rehabilitation from a left knee injury and was suspended for three games after a locker room altercation with a journalist.
Embiid’s lack of game time was apparent in a sluggish performance that saw him finish with 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.
“He was a little rusty,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.
“But I thought he played with some pretty good competitive spirit for what he can do out there.”
With Embiid not firing on all cylinders, the Knicks dominated for long periods, leading for almost the entirety of the game before pulling away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Sixers, 33-24.
Karl-Anthony Towns impressed with 21 points, 13 rebounds and six assists while O.G. Anunoby led the scoring with 24 points.
In Boston, the Atlanta Hawks pulled off the shock of the opening round, defeating the in-form Celtics, 117-116, despite missing injured talisman Trae Young.
A game which saw the lead change hands 14 times looked to have swung decisively in favor of the home side midway through the third quarter as the Celtics raced into a 15-point lead.
But Dyson Daniels led a late rally which included 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Onyeka Okongwu tipped in the winning basket with 6.1sec left on the clock to snatch victory.
Daniels led Atlanta’s scorers with 28 points while Larry Nance Jr. added 19 with Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela chipping in with 18 points each.
The victory was sweet for Atlanta, who had suffered a 123-93 mauling by the Celtics at home on November 4.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said Atlanta “outplayed us in every facet of the game.”
“They beat us on all the margins and they deserved to win,” Mazzulla said.
Elsewhere, the Phoenix Suns downed the Utah Jazz, 120-112, while the Milwaukee Bucks beat Toronto, 99-85.
The NBA Cup was introduced last season as a way of providing a knockout competition in the early months of the league season.
All 30 league teams are drawn into six groups of five, with eight teams advancing to single-elimination knockout rounds, with the semi-finals and final taking place in Las Vegas on 14 to 17 December.