NBA round-up: Golden State Warriors beat Chicago Bulls 140-131

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Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to a much-needed 140-131 victory against the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

The Warriors had lost their two previous games and made another sluggish start to trail the Bulls 75-62 at half-time.

But 48 points in the third quarter put Golden State in control heading into the closing stages in Chicago.

Thompson finished with 30 points and six assists and Curry added 27 points.

“I think we got off-track emotionally, spiritually, the last couple games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

“Our fans could feel it. We got booed for the first time since I’ve been here, and as I said both nights, we deserved it because our energy and our competitive spirit was not there.

“We found that again tonight.”

Elsewhere, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama scored 26 points and claimed 11 rebounds as they thrashed the Charlotte Hornets 135-99.

Frenchman Wembanyama, 20, connected on nine of 14 shots inside the opening 20 minutes – including two alley-oop dunks and a one-handed jam in the second half.

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball had 28 points, five assists and five steals in his first game since November after a 20-match injury absence.

In Detroit, the Houston Rockets edged past the Detroit Pistons 112-110, with Fred VanVleet scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half.

The defeat was the Pistons’ seventh in a row since they ended their record-equalling 28-game losing streak against the Toronto Raptors last month.

Also, reigning champions Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 125-113 thanks to Nikola Jokic’s 12th triple-double of the season and the 10th of his career.

The Serb, who is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and 14 assists.