OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant called out his team, and it didn’t matter because the Thunder are just no match for the Warriors.
Stephen Curry scored 33 points in his return from an ankle injury and the Warriors tied an NBA record by winning their 44th straight regular-season home game, 121-106 over the Thunder on Thursday night.
“That’s an amazing accomplishment,” Curry said. “It’s a compliment to us as a team, our coaching staff and obviously our fans who bring that atmosphere every night to give us the ultimate home-court advantage.”
As for Durant, the star made his frustration public on Thursday — saying the Thunder were “fooling themselves” — after his team suffered another late-game collapse, against a Western Conference contender, blowing a 22-point lead and falling to the Clippers, 103-98. That was four nights after that first devastating loss to Curry and the Warriors on Saturday.
“We’ve definitely got to get it under control,” Durant said after another loss to the Warriors. “I’m not happy with the way we’re playing. Obviously we want to win, but this is where you see what you’re made of.”
But for Curry, things couldn’t be going better.
Five days after tying an NBA record with 12 3-pointers in an overtime win at Oklahoma City, Curry went 5 of 15 from long range in the rematch. But he got more than enough help from his bench to help the Warriors (55-5) tie one record set by Chicago as they chase the Bulls’ single-season mark for victories.
The Bulls won 44 consecutive home games from March 30, 1995, until April 4, 1996. That helped them set the record with 72 wins in 1995-96, a mark the Warriors remain on pace to surpass after beating the Thunder for the third time in as many tries this season.
Durant scored 32 points, Russell Westbrook had 22 and Serge Ibaka added 20 for the Thunder, who have lost six of eight since the All-Star break.
Klay Thompson scored 21 for the Warriors, and former Net Shaun Livingston had 11 points and eight assists off the bench.
The Warriors trailed 80-71 midway through the third quarter before racing past a Thunder team playing the back half of a back-to-back. Golden State cut the deficit to one after three quarters and then took over in the fourth.
With four starters on the bench to start the period, Golden State scored the first seven points with the help of a 3-pointer by Marreese Speights and strong play from Livingston to take a six-point lead.
Golden State extended the lead once the starters returned, going up 106-97 on Curry’s three-point play with just more than 4 minutes to play. Andrew Bogut then stole the ball from Durant, leading to a dunk by Thompson that gave the Warriors a 12-point lead.
Curry added two late 3s to seal it.
After missing Tuesday night’s overtime win against Atlanta with a sprained left ankle, Curry was a late addition to the lineup against the Thunder. He showed few ill effects early from the injury, beating Durant with a nifty crossover for a layup for his first basket and hitting two 3-pointers in the first quarter to extend his streak to 130 straight games with a 3.
Curry had 10 points in the quarter and Golden State led 29-28 after one. He hit a 33-footer in the final minute of the half, and the Warriors led 63-61 at the break.
