Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors Match Player Stats On May 06, 2021

Stephen Curry padded his NBA scoring lead with 34 points in just 31 minutes and the Golden State Warriors moved up a spot on the Western Conference playoff ladder with a 118-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday in San Francisco.

The win in the opener of a regular-season-ending, six-game homestand allowed the Warriors (34-33) to pass the Memphis Grizzlies (33-33) in their duel for the eighth playoff position in the West. The Grizzlies lost 111-97 to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.

Curry began the night as the NBA's leading scorer at 31.5 points per game and added to his advantage on a night when his chief rival, Washington's Bradley Beal, totaled 28 points in an overtime win against the Toronto Raptors.

Curry shot 11-for-21 overall and 6-for-13 from 3-point range for the Warriors, who outshot the Thunder 48.8 percent to 40.9 percent overall and 40.4 percent to 23.1 percent from long distance.

Getting double-figure scoring from four other players and double-figure rebounds from Kevon Looney, Golden State gradually pulled away from a Thunder team that lost its fifth straight.

The clubs will meet in a rematch -- also in San Francisco -- on Saturday.

Mychal Mulder had 25 points, Andrew Wiggins 18, Jordan Poole 14 and Kent Bazemore 13 for the Warriors, who were coming off a loss at New Orleans on Tuesday that completed a 2-2 trip.

Mulder outdid Curry with seven 3-pointers in 13 tries, helping Golden State outscore Oklahoma City 57-27 from beyond the arc.

Looney collected a game-high 10 rebounds, one more than teammate Draymond Green, who also had five points and a game-high nine assists.

Ty Jerome came off the bench to pace the Thunder with 23 points, hitting eight of his 14 shots and three of his six 3-point attempts.

Darius Bazley went for 22 points and Theo Maledon 15 for Oklahoma City, which began an unusual four-game sequence that features two straight in San Francisco and then two straight 90 miles away in Sacramento.

Maledon had a team-high eight assists and Moses Brown pulled down a team-best eight rebounds for the Thunder, who never led in the game and trailed by as many as 25.

--Field Level Media