Stephen Curry scored 29 points in 25 minutes before hyperextending left knee Friday night as his Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-94 in Oakland, Calif.
Curry, making a comeback from a sprained right ankle that forced him to miss the previous six games, got rolled up upon by falling teammate JaVale McGee in a third-quarter collision near the Atlanta basket.
In obvious pain, Curry limped to the bench and subsequently to the locker room. He did not return to the court for the fourth quarter.
Curry scored 11 of his points in a 13-4 Warriors run in the third quarter that turned a 60-53 deficit into a 66-64 lead.
His four-point play — a 3-pointer on which he was fouled — put the Warriors in front for the first time since the first quarter.
The Hawks, who led by as many as 15 in the first half, hung within 90-86 on a free throw by Dewayne Dedmon with 5:45 to play.
However, Atlanta missed its next two shots and two free throws, allowing the Warriors to pull away on 3-pointers by Andre Iguodala and Nick Young that created a 12-point cushion.
Curry connected on 10 of his 18 shots, including three 3-pointers, to pace the Warriors, who were without injured All-Stars Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Young, starting in place of Thompson, complemented Curry with 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers.
Quinn Cook added 13 points and Jordan Bell 12 for the Warriors, who improved to 24-3 in games against Eastern Conference teams this season.
Cook, coming off the bench with the return of Curry, also contributed eight rebounds and six assists to the Warriors’ seventh straight win over the Hawks.
The victory was Golden State’s 312th in the past five seasons, breaking the record of 311 set by the Boston Celtics from 1982-86.
Taurean Prince scored a team-high 20 points for the Hawks, who fell to 1-3 on their six-game trip.
Dennis Schroder (16 points), Tyler Dorsey (13), Mike Muscala (11) and Damion Lee (10) also scored in double figures for Atlanta. Dedmon collected a game-high 11 rebounds to go with nine points.
–Field Level Media
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