Curry catches fire as Warriors torch Heat

Stephen Curry caught fire in the second half while Yaxel Lendeborg sustained his blazing start as the Golden State Warriors crushed the Miami Heat, 120-100, for their sixth straight victory in the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season on Thursday.

Curry started 1-of-8 and was 2-of-10 at halftime before springing to life in the third quarter to finish 9-of-19 with six three-pointers for a 29-point performance, just missing his fourth straight game with 30 or more points because he rested once the game was out of hand.

Rookie Lendeborg fired 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Draymond Green had a season-high 11 assists and Georges Niang added 13 points off the bench for the Warriors, who extended their winning streak since starting the season 0-3.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and 14 rebounds, Davion Mitchell contributed 22 points and eight assists and Bam Adebayo added 18 and 10 rebounds for Miami, which was outscored 26-9 during one crucial stretch of the third quarter and couldn’t recover.

Klay Thompson scored 11 points in his return and reunion with his former Warriors team and received a warm ovation before tipoff. A night after Thompson hit a winning three-pointer with a second left in overtime of a 117-116 victory at the Clippers, he finished 3-of-10 from the floor.

Andrew Wiggins also faced his old Golden State teammates and scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists for the Heat in their third stop on a five-game West Coast road trip.

Miami is focused on defending the three-point line, coach Erik Spoelstra calling it “high on the priority list.” The Warriors wound up 39 percent — 16 for 41 — from long range.

With his three-pointer at the 7:03 mark of the opening quarter, Curry moved into 17th place on the NBA’s career scoring list by passing Oscar Robertson (26,710).

Former Warriors assistant coach and Stanford star Jarron Collins attended the game as Golden State honored his late twin brother, Jason, on Pride Night.

Meanwhile, Devin Booker had 30 points and a season-high four three-pointers, Dillon Brooks added 24 points and four threes, and the host Phoenix Suns beat the Orlando Magic, 117-104, to break a four-game losing streak.

Miles Bridges had 18 points and a season-high ‌13 rebounds for his second double-double and reserve Luke Kennard had a season-high 12 points for the Suns, who have split the first two games of a season-long seven-game homestand.

The Suns made 17-of-34 three-pointers, one short of a season high. Bridges and Kennard had three and Collin Gillespie added two.

Wendell Carter Jr. had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Franz Wagner had 15 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Magic, who have lost three in a row.

The Suns took control with a 29-16 run to end the third quarter with a 96-73 lead that ballooned to 30 on Gillespie’s trey with nine minutes remaining in the fourth.

Brooks made two threes and Booker and Bridges had one apiece in the third quarter run. The Suns’ largest lead of the season had been 17, in a loss to Golden State on Monday.

Tristan Da Silva scored 18 points, Desmond Bane had 15 points, and Anthony Black added 10 points, seven ‌rebounds and six assists after missing the previous game.

With Kennard and Ryan Dunn (11) leading the way, the Suns had 37 bench points.

The Suns altered their starting lineup for the first time this season when Oso Ighodaro opened at center in place of Khaman Maluach. They entered the game last in the league with a minus-6.80 rebound differential.

Orlando had a 48-33 rebounding edge but committed 25 turnovers that led to 36 Suns’ points.