NBA Roundup: Warriors’ Curry scores 26 in win against hometown Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stephen Curry scored 26 points in his annual homecoming game in Charlotte, and Golden State defeated the Hornets 132-125 in front of 19,685, the largest crowd ever at the Spectrum Center.

Brandon Podziemski and Jimmy Butler each had 19 points for the Warriors, who’ve won five of six games. Gui Santos added 13 points off the bench, hitting three 3s for Golden State, which went 24 of 49 from beyond the arc.

Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 33 points, while LaMelo Ball finished with 27, going 7 of 10 from 3-point range. Rookie Kon Knueppel added 20 points in his return from a one-game absence because of a sprained ankle.

Charlotte played without starters Miles Bridges and Ryan Kalkbrenner because of injuries.

The Warriors led 69-64 lead at halftime behind four 3s and 15 points from Curry — who grew up in Charlotte and played college ball at nearby Davidson — and appeared on the verge of blowing out the Hornets after starting the third quarter on a 10-0 run. But Charlotte quickly turned the tables with Ball hitting three 3s, helping the Hornets put together a 32-12 run to take the lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The momentum swung back to the Warriors after Podziemski knocked down two 3s to open the fourth.

The Warriors held the lead throughout the rest of the fourth quarter and Draymond Green’s tip-in off a Curry miss from deep with 1 minute remaining pushed the lead to six. Butler hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to seal the win.

Podziemski finished 5 of 7 from 3-point range, including a leaning 3-pointer off one foot to beat the shot clock.

The Hornets lost despite outscoring the Warriors 56-32 in the paint.

HAWKS 126, TIMBERWOLVES 102

ATLANTA — Jalen Johnson scored 34 points and Atlanta overcame Anthony Edwards’ 30 points for Minnesota to beat the Timberwolves and end a seven-game losing streak.

Atlanta took control by outscoring Minnesota 37-23 in the second quarter to lead 70-49 at halftime.

Johnson added 10 rebounds and six assists. Onyeka Okongwu had 17 points and Dyson Daniels added 11 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Daniels also had two steals and two blocks.

The Hawks claimed their first win since beating Philadelphia 120-117 on Dec. 14 and improved to 6-11 at home.

The Hawks were bolstered by the return of Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 16 points in 17 minutes off the bench after missing 10 games with an illness.

INDIANAPOLIS — Paolo Banchero had 29 points and 10 rebounds and hit the go-ahead basket with 7.5 seconds remaining as Orlando rallied from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit and beat Indiana, sending the Pacers to their 10th consecutive loss.

As the clock was winding down in regulation, Banchero backed down Aaron Nesmith and banked home an 11-foot shot for the final basket in a game that included 12 ties and 11 lead changes. The power forward finished 12 of 21 from the field and 5 for 7 at the line.

Nesmith missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining.

Orlando’s Desmond Bane scored 18, Anthony Black added 15 and former Pacers center Goga Bitadze 14.

The Magic (19-15), who have been without leading scorer Franz Wagner (22.7 points per game) since Dec. 7 due to a high-ankle sprain, welcomed back point guard Jalen Suggs from a seven-game absence with a hip issue. Suggs had 11 points and three assists.

The Pacers have the NBA’s worst record at 6-28. The 10-game losing streak matches the fifth-longest in franchise history.

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points, Darius Garland added 19 and Cleveland pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Phoenix to snap its four-game winning streak.

It was Mitchell’s 18th 30-point game this season, third-most in the league, after he had only 10 points in Monday night’s win at San Antonio. The All-Star guard — fourth in the league in scoring at 29.7 points per game — was 10 of 18 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and also had 10 rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes.

Jaylon Tyson had 18 points and Sam Merrill added 16. Evan Mobley (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Jarrett Allen (16 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles.

Cleveland has won two straight and improved to 19-16 after going 7-7 in December.

Devin Booker led Phoenix with 32 points, including 20 in the third quarter as the Suns rallied from a 67-54 halftime deficit to get within two late in the quarter. Dillon Brooks had 20 points, all in the first half, and Collin Gillespie added 17.

After Phoenix got within 91-89 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Goodwin, the Cavaliers regained control with a 24-5 run as Mitchell scored eight points and Tyson added six. Cleveland was 10 of 13 from the field while Phoenix went 2 of 10.

Cleveland’s largest lead was 24 points at 125-101 with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix had an 8-5 lead before the Cavaliers scored 16 straight points, including four straight 3-pointers.

The Suns go into 2026 with a 19-14 record after going 7-5 in December.

CHICAGO — Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 24 points, Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists and Chicago topped New Orleans.

Matas Buzelis had 19 points, Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 17 points for a Chicago team playing without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White, who were injured in a loss to Minnesota on Monday night and are expected to miss several games.

All five Chicago starters reached double figures, as did three bench players — Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter and Patrick Williams.

Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 31 points and Jordan Poole added 26 off the bench in the team’s fifth straight loss.

SAN ANTONIO — Julian Champagnie had a career-high 36 points and San Antonio survived an injury scare to Victor Wembanyama, rallying to beat New York Knicks in a rematch of the NBA Cup final.

Wembanyama finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes before limping off the court with an apparent leg injury with under 11 minutes remaining. He returned to the bench in warmups in the final minutes.

New York’s Jalen Brunson had 29 points, including a 3-pointer at the close of regulation after stripping Keldon Johnson of possession as he celebrated with San Antonio’s bench. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan Clarkson added 20 points apiece for the Knicks, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

TORONTO — Peyton Watson scored 24 points, Jamal Murray had 21 and Denver won their first game without injured center Nikola Jokic, beating Toronto Raptors.

Denver came in 13-23 over the last five seasons when Jokic wasn’t in the lineup but held on down the stretch to end a two-game slide.

The Raptors thought they had sent the game to overtime when Brandon Ingram banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the basket was overturned on video review. Toronto’s late chance came after Denver’s Bruce Brown missed a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining.

The Nuggets were already without starters Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson.

Denver’s injury woes worsened when backup center Jonas Valanciunas limped off because of a strained right calf with 4:03 left in the third quarter. Valanciunas finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes against his former team.

DaRon Holmes scored 11 points and Jalen Pickett had 10 as Denver won its fifth straight meeting with Toronto.

Ingram finished with 30 points for Toronto, missing two of seven attempts from distance. Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points and Scottie Barnes had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his eighth career triple-double and second in three games.

MILWAUKEE — C.J. McCollum made a go-ahead, pull-up jumper with a second remaining to give Washington a victory over Milwaukee.

McCollum’s winner capped an 18-point performance. Alex Starr and Bub Carrington each scored 20 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points to lead the Bucks (14-20), who shot 41.1% from the floor and made 16 of 39 from 3-point distance.

Kevin Porter Jr. scored 19 points and Ryan Rollins finished with 16 for Milwaukee, which had won two in a row and was looking for its first three-game win streak of the season.

THUNDER 124, TRAIL BLAZERS 95

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in three quarters and Oklahoma City rolled past Portland for their third straight win.

Ajay Mitchell scored 17 points off the bench, and Jalen Williams had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Chet Holmgren added 12 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high six blocks for Oklahoma City (29-5), which made 44 of 90 shots (48.9%) and converted 25 Portland turnovers into 28 points.

Gilgeous-Alexander sank 11 of 15 field goals and all seven of his foul shots. He scored at least 20 points for the 105th consecutive game. Mitchell, meanwhile, hit all four of his field goal attempts and all eight free throws.

Two-way player Sidy Cissoko scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting for Portland (14-20). Deni Avdija had 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Shaedon Sharpe added 14 points.