Stephen Curry scored 22 of his 42 points in the fourth and overtime periods to carry the Golden State Warriors past the hot-shooting Aaron Gordon and the Denver Nuggets, 137-131, Friday (Manila time) in San Francisco.
Curry outdueled Gordon, who finished with a career-high 50 points, as he ran berserk in clutch time.
Aside from his 42-point performance built on 14-of-25 shooting from the field, Curry also had seven assists, six rebounds and three steals alongside a block.
Denver led by as much as 14 points in the game, and was ahead by nine, 109-100, with 7:22 remaining in regulation following an and-one play by Gordon.
A 3-pointer by Will Richard then lit a fire on the Warriors as they slowly stormed back.
After a triple by Curry tied things up at 117-all with 1:24 left in regulation, Gordon hit a trey with about 26 seconds to go to give Denver a 120-117 edge.
But Curry was quick to answer back with a 3-pointer of his own to force overtime.
In overtime, the two teams traded buckets early, as Jamal Murray hit a layup to make it a 127-128 game with 2:26 to go.
But a backbreaking 7-0 run within the next two minutes, thanks to the troika of Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Curry, pushed Golden State up by eight, 135-127, with about 24 seconds left.
Gordon cut the run with a dunk, but Curry’s free throws iced the game.
Butler had 21 markers, six dimes, five boards and three steals, while Jonathan Kuminga had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Warriors, who rose to 2-0 in the season. Green and Al Horford had 13 points apiece for the winning squad.
Gordon made 17-of-21 from the floor to go with eight rebounds in the losing effort. Murray backstopped with 25 points and 10 assists, while Nikola Jokic had 21 markers, 13 boards and 10 dimes for the 0-1 Nuggets.