PHOENIX — Stephen Curry scored 36 points and Klay Thompson added 25 when the Golden State Warriors became the second team in the NBA to have 50 victories with a 98-80 victory over the Phoenix Suns at UA Airways Center.
Forward Draymond Green had 11 points and 10 rebounds to help the Warriors (50-12) reach 50 victories about four hours after Atlanta (50-13) got there by routing Philadelphia.
Curry made 7-of-13 3-point field goals, skipping back on defense after one and flexing from a seated position after another. Thompson was 4-of-8 on 3-pointers as the Warriors set a franchise record with their start.
The Warriors became the first team since the 2010-11 San Antonio Spurs to reach 50 victories in their first 62 games while breaking a three-game losing streak in Phoenix. The Spurs were 51-11 that year.
Guard Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 19 points, guard Brandon Knight had 13. Knight scored all of his points in the first 18 minutes before suffering a sprained left ankle on a drive to the basket with 4:17 remaining in the first half. He did not return.
Golden State entered as the league’s highest-scoring team with a 109.8-point scoring average and the Suns were third at 105.3, but neither shot well.
The Warriors made 42.2 percent from the field and the Suns made 37.7.
Suns forward Markieff Morris, averaging 15.2 points a game, scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field.
Curry had 25 points in the second half, when the Warriors used a 30-11 burst to break from a 46-46 halftime tie for a 76-57 lead in the final minute of the third period. The Suns had five field goals in the third period.
The Warriors have won four in a row, six of their last seven and 11 of their last 14.
The Suns have lost four of their six, scoring 74 and 79 points in two of those. They have lost nine of 13.
The Suns scored the first basket of the game but never led again, although they scored the final nine points of the second quarter for a 46-46 halftime tie.
NOTES: Clippers F Dahntay Jones was fined $10,000 Monday for bumping Warriors F Draymond Green during a TV interview following Golden State’s 106-98 victory Sunday. “He didn’t get his money’s worth,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. … Suns F Danny Granger reported to the team Monday, 2 1/2 weeks after being acquired from Miami with two first-round draft picks and since-waived F John Salmons for G Goran Dragic and his brother, Zoran. Coach Jeff Hornacek said the team would try to get Granger in shape to appear in games late in the season. … Suns C Alex Len (ankle) started after missing the previous game. … Kerr, a former Suns general manager, on Phoenix trading Dragic: “I did feel like Goran was really connected to the franchise and the community. It would have been nice for him to make a whole career here, so I was a little saddened by the way it sort of played out.”