NBA: Warriors cruise to victory over Hawks

Golden State Warriors cruised to a 114-95 win over high-flying Atlanta Hawks in Wednesday’s clash of the NBA’s top two teams.

Harrison Barnes scored 25 points and Andre Iguodala added 21 points and six assists for the Warriors.

Atlanta, looking fatigued, were denied again in a chance to clinch their first division title since 1993-94 as Washington won at Utah.

With their 10th straight home win, the Western Conference-leading Warriors maintained the best record in the NBA at 54-13.

Despite connecting on just four of 11 shots from the floor, Stephen Curry still finished with 16 points and handed out 12 assists for Golden State.

“I think the defensive end is what got it done for us,” said Draymond Green, who added 18 points. “We were able to lock those guys down for the most part of the game.

“Once we got good on the defensive end, we were able to get out and run and we started knocking shots down and got it going.”

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Elsewhere, San Antonio, coming off what coach Gregg Popovich called “a pathetic performance” in losing to lowly New York, put in an improved showing to win 114-103 at Milwaukee.

Danny Green scored 20 points and Tim Duncan added 19 points and seven assists for the Spurs, who are seventh in the West.

Miami’s Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 13.6 seconds left to break a tied game and guide the Heat to a 108-104 win against Portland.

Cleveland Cavaliers shook off a slow start to beat Brooklyn 117-92 and extend their impressive home streak.

J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov scored 17 points apiece for the Cavaliers, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter before going on a 30-8 run to turn it around.

Deron Williams scored 20 to lead the Nets, who are running out of games as they claw to get into the play-offs.

Chicago’s rookie forward Nikola Mirotic scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half to steer the Bulls to a 103-86 victory over Indiana Pacers.

Winning run

Washington extended their winning run to five games by squeezing out an 88-84 victory at Utah.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scored 36 points to lead the Thunder to a 122-118 victory against Boston, who had won their previous five games.

Los Angeles’ Chris Paul had 30 points and 11 assists as the Clippers defeated slumping Sacramento 116-105.

Dallas beat lowly Orlando 107-102 to make it three straight wins since an embarrassing home loss against Cleveland, with Drik Nowitzki scoring 25 points for the Mavericks.

Toronto extended their home winning streak to 11 games by defeating an undermanned Minnesota 105-100, with Jonas Valanciunas contributing 15 points and 15 rebounds.

And Philadelphia earned their first win in five games by beating Detroit 94-83.