The China Mail - Rockets down Warriors in Curry return, Flagg carries Mavs past Lakers

Curry came off the bench in his first game since January 30 and scored 29 points in 26 minutes on the floor.

He connected on 11 of 21 shots from the field, including five of 10 from three-point range.

Trailing by 10 with less than five minutes remaining, the Warriors pulled within one on a Curry three-pointer with 57.8 seconds to play.

Gary Payton II then drove and was awarded a basket on a goaltend by Amen Thompson to put the Warriors ahead 116-115.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun answered with a layup, and when Curry couldn't get a final three-pointer to drop, the Rockets came away with the win.

"We had the game in control, then they put number 30 in the game," Rockets star Kevin Durant, who won two titles with the Warriors, said of Curry. "And he got back into it so easily. He makes shots so quicky and he looked incredible after a couple of months off.

"It was a tough one," added Durant, who led all scorers with 31 points. "But it's late in the season and both teams are looking to get ready for the playoffs. So it was a good test for us."

The Rockets had pushed a two-point halftime lead to 15 with five minutes left in the third period when Curry, playing on a minutes restriction, spearheaded an 11-0 run that kept the Warriors within striking distance.

The return of Curry, who said he originally expected to miss only about a week with patella-femoral pain syndrome in his right knee, offered the Warriors a glimpse of what they can be as they gird for the play-in tournament.

"You can just feel it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We're back in the mix, we're back in the fight with Steph."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers got a taste of just how hard it will be for them to maintain their position in the Western Conference with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out for at least the remainder of the regular season.

The Dallas Mavericks, with another sensational performance from rookie Cooper Flagg, beat the Lakers 134-128, snapping a 14-game home losing streak.

Flagg, coming off a 51-point performance in Friday's loss to Orlando that made the 19-year-old the first teenager to score 50 in an NBA game, delivered 45 points, eight rebounds and nine assists along with a pair of steals and a block.

Dallas burst out of the blocks against the depleted Lakers, who lost the league's leading scorer Doncic to a hamstring strain and offensive sparkplug Reaves to an oblique muscle injury.

- Playing catch-up -

LeBron James carried the load with 30 points, nine rebounds and 15 assists. Jaxson Hayes added 23 points off the bench, Rui Hachimura scored 21 and Luke Kennard posted a triple-double of 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

But the Lakers never recovered from their slow start.

"We didn't start the game the right way and just played catch-up the rest of the game," Lakers coach JJ Redick said, saying the Lakers' inability to adjust led to "just a poor defensive night."

The defeat left them tied with the Denver Nuggets at 50-28 in the race for third place in the West, with the fifth-placed Rockets -- who have now won six straight -- just a game back.

Elsewhere the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder furthered their bid for top seed in the West with a fourth straight win, 146-111 over the Utah Jazz.

Chet Holmgren scored 21 points and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20, both sitting out the fourth quarter with the game in hand.

With their fifth straight victory, the Thunder pushed their lead atop the West to three games over the San Antonio Spurs.

Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and Jayson Tatum added 23 as the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 115-101.

Tatum added 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Celtics, who notched their third straight win to tighten their grip on second place in the Eastern Conference.

V.Fan--ThChM