LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry scored 28 points, DeMarcus Cousins added 14 before fouling out of his Warriors debut after being sidelined for nearly a year, and Golden State pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-94 on Friday night for its seventh straight victory and sixth in a row on the road.
The Warriors shot just 9 of 37 on 3-pointers on a night when Curry made only three from long range. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Cousins shot 5 for 11 from the floor and finished with six rebounds and three assists during his first game since Jan. 26, 2018, when he ruptured his left Achilles tendon playing for New Orleans. He missed the rest of last season, including nine playoff games for the Pelicans. The Warriors signed him last July.
With Cousins finally in the lineup, Golden State became the first team in 42 years to start five All-Stars from the previous season.
Instead of his usual scowl, Cousins left the court after his sixth foul at 8:51 of the fourth smiling and high-fiving his new teammates. Curry and Kevin Durant, who scored 24 points, looked happy, too.
Cousins went out with a bang. He got his fifth foul just 30 seconds into the fourth and then made two consecutive 3-pointers — holding up three fingers — that extended the Warriors’ lead to 87-72.
Curry scored 14 of Golden State’s 29 points in the third, including their final eight for an 81-72 lead.
Tobias Harris led the short-handed Clippers with 28 points. Rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied his career high with 24 in their season-worst fifth straight loss. They played without injured Lou Williams, and Danilo Gallinari left with lower back spasms.
Cousins picked up his third foul 32 seconds into the second quarter. Then he hit a 3-pointer for the Warriors’ first basket of the period, bringing loud cheers from their many fans at Staples Center.
Cousins missed his first shot but came right back with a one-handed slam off Durant’s bounce pass for the Warriors’ first basket. Cousins was called for two fouls in the first three minutes and sat down.
The Warriors took their first double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the third when the Clippers missed their initial six shots. Golden State opened on a 14-2 run with five different players scoring, including a basket by Cousins before getting his fourth foul, to go up 66-53.
Draymond Green got two technical fouls in the second quarter, the second one for swinging from the basket after a high-flying dunk that sent the Warriors into halftime leading 52-51.
Neither team led by more than six in the first half.
TRAILBLAZERS 128, PELICANS 112
PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard scored 22 points and eight assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 128-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
CJ McCollum and reserve forward Jake Layman scored 20 points each for the Trail Blazers. Layman got all his points in the second quarter.
Anthony Davis finished with 27 points and seven rebounds for New Orleans. Jrue Holiday had 20 points and Julius Randle pitched in 19.
Other than the first quarter, the Trail Blazers dominated.
Portland opened things up in the second thanks to their reserves, most notably the scoring from Layman.
In the span of 2 1/2 minutes, the Moda Center became a playground like scene. Layman scored 11 points in six Portland possessions as the crowd stood up and the Blazers force-fed him the ball, helping them push their lead as high as 17.
The Blazers also had 23 second chance points thanks to 18 offensive rebounds.
The Blazers quickly got their lead up to 21 in the third quarter, with Lillard scoring 10 points in the period.
New Orleans, which trialed by 18 going into the fourth, got a push from its reserves to pull within eight with under eight minutes remaining.
A 3-point play by CJ McCollum pushed the lead back to 11, which helped get the Blazers back on track with 7:37 left.
NETS 117, MAGIC 115
ORLANDO, Fla. — D’Angelo Russell matched his career high with 40 points and the Brooklyn Nets overcame a 21-point deficit to beat the Orlando Magic 117-115 on Friday night.
Russell’s 3-pointer with 27.1 seconds left put the Nets up for the first time since they led 2-0. After missed free throws by both teams left Brooklyn with a two-point lead, Evan Fournier missed a shot in the lane that would have tied it for Orlando.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half for Brooklyn. The Nets won for the 16th time in 21 games, making 19 of 46 3-pointers. They also rallied Wednesday night in a 145-142 overtime victory at Houston.
Aaron Gordon scored 23 points for Orlando, and Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 17 rebounds.
SPURS 116, TIMBERWOLVES 113
MINNEAPOLIS — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points, Rudy Gay added 22 and San Antonio held on to beat Minnesota to give coach Gregg Popovich another milestone victory.
The win was the 520th on the road in Popovich’s career, tying him with Pat Riley for the most in NBA history. The Spurs have won 16 of the past 18 games between the teams.
San Antonio scoring leader DeMar DeRozan sat out because of left ankle soreness.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points for Minnesota, but was limited to 21 minutes because of foul trouble. Derrick Rose also had 23 points.
CELTICS 122, GRIZZLIES 116
BOSTON — Kyrie Irving scored 20 of his 38 points in the third quarter and Boston held off Memphis.
Irving also had 11 assists and seven rebounds to help Boston win ints second straight after dropping three in a row. Marcus Smart added 20 points and Al Horford had 18
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 26 points. They have lost 10 of 11 overall, and six in a row on the road.
JAZZ 115, CAVALIERS 99
SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points, Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 15 rebounds and Utah routed Cleveland for its sixth straight victory and eighth in nine games.
Royce O’Neale added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Ante Zizic and Collin Sexton each scored 15 points, and Cameron Payne had 14 for the Cavaliers.
PISTONS 98, HEAT 93
DETROIT — Blake Griffin had 32 points and 11 rebounds and Detroit Pistons overcame an early exit by injured Andre Drummond to beat Miami.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for the Heat, but missed badly on an off-balance 3-pointer in the final seconds that could have tied it.
Drummond left with a nasal injury after being hit in the face in the first quarter by the arm of Miami’s James Johnson.