THE GOLDEN STATE Warriors moved within four games of breaking the NBA’s win record after rebounding from a rare home loss to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 136-111.
Draymond Green and Steph Curry starred as reigning champions the Warriors tied the mark for the second-most league wins with their 69th of the season on Sunday.
After bouncing back from their first home defeat of the campaign on Friday, which snapped a 54-game regular-season streak, the Warriors matched the Chicago Bulls (1996-97) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1971-72).
The Warriors (69-8) are now three adrift of the 1995-96 Bulls’ 72-win record with five games remaining.
Green posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a triple-double display, while Curry posted a game-high 39 points, which included nine three-pointers as the Warriors became the first team to make 1,000 threes in a single season.
The Trail Blazers (41-37), who remain half a game behind the fifth-placed Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference after their four-game winning streak was snapped, were led by Damian Lillard’s 38 points.
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In Orlando, the slumping Grizzlies fell to a sixth consecutive loss, beaten 119-107 by the Magic.
The Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to sealing the top play-off seed in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 112-103 victory at home to the Charlotte Hornets.
LeBron James scored 31 points and tallied 12 assists as the Cavaliers (55-22) pulled three and a half games clear of the Toronto Raptors (51-25).
Also on Sunday, the Houston Rockets boosted their post-season hopes with a 118-110 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Blake Griffin returned from his three-month absence to help the Los Angeles Clippers past the Washington Wizards 114-109.
Paul George nailed a go-ahead jumper with 23.6 seconds remaining as the Indiana Pacers earned a share of seventh position in the Eastern Conference via a 92-87 triumph at the New York Knicks.
The Chicago Bulls held on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-98, the Utah Jazz accounted for the Phoenix Suns 101-86, the Dallas Mavericks downed the Minnesota Timberwolves 88-78, the Brooklyn Nets lost 106-87 to the New Orleans Pelicans, while the Boston Celtics saw off the Los Angeles Lakers 107-100.
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