Steve Kerr feels Stephen Curry is playing the best basketball of his career after his impressive 57-point outing in the Golden State Warriors' defeat to the Dallas Mavericks.
Curry joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only Warriors players to post multiple 55-point games in a campaign with a season-high 11 three-pointers in Saturday's thrilling clash.
It was not enough for the Warriors as Luka Doncic tied his career high of 42 points to inspire his side to a 134-132 victory, snapping a six-game home losing streak.
However, Kerr was blown away by Curry's shot-making ability, with the two-time MVP's 57 points - the second-best total of his career - coming on 19-of-31 shooting from the field.
"He's never played better," Kerr said. "We're talking about a two-time MVP, three-time champion. I've never seen him like this. He just looks so strong to me.
"He's obviously always been an incredible shooter, but he looks stronger to me just getting by people, fending them off on drives to the rim, finish, and of course the shot-making.
"It's almost unfathomable what he's doing out there."
Doncic, who is yet to outscore Curry in a head-to-head contest, was also amazed by the Warriors superstar's performance at the American Airlines Center.
"Every time he shot the ball, I thought it was going in," Doncic told ESPN. "It was something unbelievable. He's an amazing player.
"He changed the game and it's always fun to play against him, and today we got a win, but it's always fun to play against him."
Elsewhere in Saturday's NBA action, champions Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 135-129 in double overtime.
LeBron James had 33 points, eight of those points coming in the second overtime as the Lakers survived a scare against a Pistons side with just five wins all term.
James, who also had 11 assists to make it 10 double-doubles for the season, joked he is getting too old to be taken the distance.
"I was just ready to go," he said. "I'm 36 years old... my heart is not sustainable for two overtimes at this point in my career!
"I've got a bottle of wine at home ready to be opened, and I delayed it for two overtime periods."
Stephen Curry joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only Golden State Warriors players to post multiple 55-point games in a season, but his team lost to Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks 134-32 in the NBA.
Curry nailed a season-high 11 three-pointers en route to 57 points in a thrilling duel with Mavericks star Doncic on Saturday.
Former MVP Curry put up his eighth 50-plus point game in his career, however, it was not enough.
Doncic tied his career high with 42 points in Dallas, where he also had 11 assists to snap the Mavericks' six-game home losing streak.
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic joined Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson as the only Denver Nuggets players with 50-plus point games in the past 20 seasons.
Jokic finished with a career-high 50 points – including 23 points in the final quarter – but the Nuggets still went down 119-114 to the Sacramento Kings.
The MVP candidate also had 12 assists and eight rebounds as the Nuggets dropped their third straight game.
Embiid leads 76ers
Joel Embiid became the first Philadelphia 76ers player with eight consecutive 25-plus point games since Iverson in 2006. The three-time All-Star registered 33 points in a 124-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets, who were without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. James Harden led the Nets with 26 points and 10 assists.
Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks, who eased past the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-99.
The Oklahoma City Thunder scored a team-record 83 points in the first half as they edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-118. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted 31 points to the Thunder.
The Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic 118-92 behind Zach LaVine's 39 points on the road.
LeBron James had 33 points and 11 assists and Anthony Davis added 30 points as NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers prevailed 135-129 against the Detroit Pistons in double overtime.
Oladipo struggles
Victor Oladipo ended the Houston Rockets' 111-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs with nine points on four-of-14 shooting from the field. He also missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
In 34 minutes of action, Rodney Hood was three-of-10 from the field and made just one of six three-point shots for seven points as the Portland Trail Blazers were beaten 110-99 by the New York Knicks.
Zion with the slam!
Zion Williamson had the final say against the Memphis Grizzlies. His game-sealing dunk saw the New Orleans Pelicans to a 118-109 win. Williamson had 29 points, while team-mate Brandon Ingram scored 27 points, collected 12 rebounds and tallied a career-high four blocks.
Saturday's results
New York Knicks 110-99 Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings 119-114 Denver Nuggets
Chicago Bulls 118-92 Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers 124-108 Brooklyn Nets
Atlanta Hawks 132-121 Toronto Raptors
Milwaukee Bucks 124-99 Cleveland Cavaliers
San Antonio Spurs 111-106 Houston Rockets
Oklahoma City Thunder 120-118 Minnesota Timberwolves
Dallas Mavericks 134-132 Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans 118-109 Memphis Grizzlies
Los Angeles Lakers 135-129 Detroit Pistons (double OT)
Kings at Clippers
Before Super Bowl LV gets underway, the Los Angeles Clippers (17-7)-Kings (11-11) matchup headlines a slate of five early NBA games on Sunday.
Kevin Durant will miss the Brooklyn Nets' clash with Eastern Conference leaders the Philadelphia 76ers due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.
Durant was in doubt for Saturday's showdown in Philadelphia following an unusual series of events on Friday.
The Nets star was named in the starting line-up to face the Toronto Raptors before being removed because of the league's health and safety protocols.
Durant was allowed to enter the game in the opening quarter, only to then exit in the third period – again due to coronavirus protocols – as the Nets lost 123-117.
Former MVP Durant finished with eight points, six rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes against the Raptors.
Prior to Saturday's matchup against the 76ers (16-7), Nets head coach Steve Nash said Durant is eligible to re-join the team on Friday.
Durant has been averaging 29.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game for the Nets (14-10) this season.
Jayson Tatum savoured a "big team win" as the Boston Celtics condemned the Los Angeles Clippers to a second loss in three games.
His 34-point haul drove the injury-hit Celtics to their 119-115 success at Staples Center, with Kemba Walker adding 24 points.
In response, Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 28 points, five assists and 11 rebounds. That meant he exceeded 20 points for an eighth straight game, but he failed to make a three-pointer for just the third time this season, missing with his five attempts.
Tatum's points haul was his second highest of the season and included five three-pointers from 10 attempts.
The 2017 draft third overall pick was satisfied to see the team make up for their previous defeat, a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
"I think this is a good win, coming off a loss, down a few guys," Tatum said in a post-game news conference.
"But I think from my time being here, regardless of who we have playing, we always feel like we want to give ourselves a chance to win."
The Celtics improved to 12-9 for the season as the Clippers slipped to 17-7, having also lost narrowly to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Tatum pointed to Boston delving into their squad, with Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart both ruled out of the game.
"We've got a lot of talented guys on this team that work extremely hard. When you get your number called it's about being ready," he said.
"It was a big team win in that aspect and I'm proud of those guys."
Asked about taking on Leonard, Tatum responded: "I enjoy those matchups obviously. He's one of the best players, he's accomplished so much."
Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated again as the Milwaukee Bucks won a third straight game, while the Boston Celtics edged the Los Angeles Clippers.
Two days after posting a triple-double against the Indiana Pacers, Antetokounmpo had a double-double in a 123-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA on Friday.
Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the Bucks (14-8).
Jrue Holiday went eight-of-nine from the field for his 17 points, while Collin Sexton (19 points) top-scored for the Cavs.
Jayson Tatum inspired the Celtics to a 119-115 victory over the Clippers.
He finished with 34 points and Kemba Walker chipped in with 24 for Boston, while Clippers star Kawhi Leonard had 28.
Zion reaches 1,000, Nets fall amid Durant drama
Zion Williamson had 18 points in the New Orleans Pelicans' 114-113 victory over the Pacers. He reached 1,000 career points in his 44th career game, becoming the fifth player in the past 40 years to do so in 44 games or fewer – joining Blake Griffin, Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson and Michael Jordan.
Brandon Ingram (30 points, seven assists and six rebounds) led the way for the Pelicans.
Kevin Durant endured a rollercoaster day with the Brooklyn Nets. The star was removed from the starting lineup due to the NBA's health and safety protocols. After being allowed to enter the game in the first quarter, he exited in the third due to contact tracing. Pascal Siakam (33 points and 11 rebounds) guided the Toronto Raptors past the Nets 123-117.
The Utah Jazz hit a franchise-record 26 three-pointers in a 138-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Bojan Bogdanovic (31 points) made seven of them, while LaMelo Ball had 34 points for the Hornets.
Nikola Vucevic posted a huge double-double of 43 points and 19 rebounds to guide the Orlando Magic past the Chicago Bulls 123-119. He joined Dwight Howard and O'Neal as the only players to reach 43 points and 19 rebounds in a game for Orlando.
Beal's streak comes to an end
After 25-plus points in 17 straight games to begin the season, Bradley Beal's streak came to an end in the Washington Wizards' 122-95 loss to the Miami Heat. Beal was one-of-14 from the field for just seven points in 27 minutes.
Jazz red hot
Utah were on a roll from deep against the Hornets. They went 26-of-50 from three-point range in their record performance.
Friday's results
New Orleans Pelicans 114-113 Indiana Pacers
Orlando Magic 123-119 Chicago Bulls
Toronto Raptors 123-117 Brooklyn Nets
Milwaukee Bucks 123-105 Cleveland Cavaliers
Utah Jazz 138-121 Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat 122-95 Washington Wizards
Minnesota Timberwolves 106-103 Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns 109-92 Detroit Pistons
Boston Celtics 119-115 Los Angeles Clippers
Nets at 76ers
The Nets (14-10) are set to be without Durant for a clash against Eastern Conference leaders the Philadelphia 76ers (16-7) on Saturday.
Steve Nash believes Kevin Durant will miss Saturday's clash against the Philadelphia 76ers, but the Brooklyn Nets head coach is unsure how long the star will be out.
In an unusual series of events, Durant was named in the Nets' starting lineup to face the Toronto Raptors on Friday before being removed due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.
But Durant was allowed to enter the game in the first quarter, only to then exit in the third – again due to coronavirus protocols – as the Nets fell 123-117.
Nash said he was unsure how long Durant, who missed three games in January due to the health and safety protocols, would be sidelined.
"I don't believe he'll come to Philly, but I don't think that necessarily they've decided," he told a news conference.
"It's just a contact-tracing procedure and it's to be determined how much time he'll have to miss, but we're just gathering information still at this point."
Durant finished with eight points, six rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes against the Raptors.
Nash admitted he got distracted by Durant's situation as the Nets slipped to 14-10.
"If I'm honest, I probably didn't handle it great, just trying to juggle all those balls, all that different information, what does it mean," he said.
"I probably got a little distracted about thinking what it means long-term for our team. We've already been playing guys a lot of minutes and if Kevin's not playing are we going to run the remaining guys too many minutes.
"Maybe I got a little bit distracted by the big picture but that's the way this year's going to be. We're going to be in and out of COVID situations and minute pile-ups and all the difficulties that we're going to face this year and it's going to be similar for everyone.
"We just have to try to adapt and be able to bounce back from little setbacks like this and unfortunately we couldn't bounce back to win the game, but we've got to be able to bounce back this next week and play well and keep getting better."
Kevin Durant left the Brooklyn Nets' clash against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.
Durant exited Friday's game after a strange sequence of events, which saw him come off the bench for the first time in his career.
The 2014 NBA MVP was initially named to start but was later removed from the lineup.
Durant was then cleared to enter the game late in the first quarter, with ESPN reporting he had gone through contact tracing.
But his outing ended in the third quarter, again due to COVID-19 protocols.
"Free me," Durant tweeted.
Durant had eight points, six rebounds and five assists in his 19 minutes on the court.
"It's tough to lose Kevin Durant twice in one night," Nets head coach Steve Nash told ESPN.
"It wasn't easy but we've got to be adaptable, this is the type of season it's going to be, we have a lot going on in our world. We've got a lot of guys who can step up."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
