Stephen Curry amassed 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Brandin Podziemski scored 22 points, and the visiting Golden State Warriors blew past the Phoenix Suns 133-95 on Tuesday.
Trayce Jackson-Davis added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Warriors (47-32), who won their sixth game in seven tries.
Jimmy Butler III, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevin Knox II and Pat Spencer each put up 10 points for Golden State, which led by as many as 41 points and pulled even with the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies in a four-way for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference standings.
Phoenix (35-44) dropped its seventh straight game despite Devin Booker’s 21 points. Ryan Dunn and Grayson Allen chipped in 12 points apiece for the Suns, who are all but eliminated from play-in contention. They fell three games back of the 10th-place Dallas Mavericks with three games to go.
After taking a 26-point advantage into halftime, the Warriors ballooned the lead to 81-47 after Butler’s mid-range jumper and subsequent three-point play.
Kuminga sank a pair of layups surrounding a Podziemski trey, giving Golden State its largest lead of the night to that point at 93-57 with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter. Allen split a pair of free throws on the Suns’ final possession of the quarter, cutting the deficit to 95-61 entering the fourth.
After Golden State cleared the bench, Warriors reserves Knox and Gui Santos hit 3-pointers and Spencer connected on two treys, extending the lead to 113-74.
Golden State shot 54.2 percent in the first quarter and Curry scored 13 as the Warriors took a 37-24 lead into the second.
Allen’s five straight points pulled the Suns within eight before Jackson-Davis’ three-point play stamped Golden State’s 10-2 run, pushing the margin to 49-33. Booker hit a stepback jumper, but Curry’s layup began a 9-0 Warriors’ spurt that forged a 58-35 lead with 3:07 left in the period.
Booker’s layup with 47 seconds remaining ended the first half for the Suns, who entered the locker room behind 69-43.
Stephen Curry, Warriors leave Suns on brink of elimination
https://arab.news/pm25z
Stephen Curry, Warriors leave Suns on brink of elimination
- Trayce Jackson-Davis added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Warriors
- The Phoenix Suns dropped its seventh straight game despite Devin Booker’s 21 points
Former cricket captains urge Pakistan to ensure better medical care for Imran Khan in prison
- In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 14 former captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, called for Khan to be treated with “dignity and basic human consideration”
- “The conditions of his imprisonment over the past two and a half years have caused us profound concern,” the cricketers wrote
ISLAMABAD: More than a dozen former international cricket captains have urged Pakistan’s government to ensure better treatment in prison and medical care for former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, citing concerns about his eyesight, as his party demanded Wednesday he be shifted to hospital from prison.
In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 14 former captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, called for Khan to be treated with “dignity and basic human consideration,” expressing concern about reports that the vision in his right eye had worsened in detention.
“Recent reports concerning his health — particularly the alarming deterioration of his vision while in custody — and the conditions of his imprisonment over the past two and a half years have caused us profound concern,” the cricketers wrote.
There was no immediate official response from Islamabad, but authorities have said that Khan is getting better facilities at the prison, a claim endorsed by Khan’s attorney Salman Safdar, who met with him recently.
Political allies of Khan and lawmakers from his opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Wednesday ended a dayslong sit-in outside parliament after doctors reported significant recovery in his right eye and no issues with his left.
Khan, 73, led Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup and later served as prime minister from 2018 until his ouster in 2022. He has been imprisoned since 2023 after he was convicted of graft and other offenses.
Khan, who has faced multiple trials since then, has said all the charges against him were politically motivated.
Concern about Khan’s health grew in late January after he was taken to hospital for eye treatment. Safdar, his lawyer, said last week that Khan had lost about 85 percent of the vision in his right eye.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a day earlier that such claims were “propaganda.” Other government officials, citing doctors who treated Khan, said the vision in his right eye had improved significantly, although Khan’s family and his personal physician say they can only confirm his condition once they are allowed to see him.
According to Australia’s The Age newspaper, signatories include former captains Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, David Gower, John Wright and Kim Hughes, among others who played against Khan. “Many of us competed against him, shared the field with him, or grew up idolizing his all-round brilliance, charisma and competitive spirit,” the letter said.
The group also urged Pakistan to allow “immediate, adequate and ongoing medical attention from qualified specialists of his choosing.”
Several former Pakistani cricketers, including Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar, have also expressed concern publicly after former India batter Ajay Jadeja encouraged Pakistani players to speak out.
Khan made his international debut in 1971 against England and became captain in 1982. Widely regarded as one of cricket’s finest all-rounders, he retired soon after leading Pakistan to its only World Cup title in 1992. He founded the PTI party in 1996 and rose to power in 2018.
Khan was removed from office in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote and later jailed after court convictions. He alleges his removal resulted from a US-backed conspiracy involving political rivals and Pakistan’s military, claims denied by Washington, the military and Prime Minister Sharif, who succeeded him.
Despite his imprisonment, Khan remains a central and influential figure in Pakistan’s politics.
