Sports

The Warriors who return Thursday night aren't the same ones who dominated the NBA for the last three seasons. The defending champions sputtered into their week off with four losses in their final eight games, falling into second place in the Western Conference behind Houston — ending a three-year run of taking the league's best record into the break.

Stephen Curry swished a beautiful buzzer-beater from way back early and hit another timely 3-pointer late on the way to scoring 44 points, and the Warriors held off the Los Angeles Clippers 134-127 on Thursday night.

Seven local wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective weight bracket at the Central Coast Section Championships on Friday at Independence High in San Jose.

The Raiders retained Smith's contractual rights even as he spent the past two seasons on the NFL's suspended list. But the team decided finally to cut ties one day after San Francisco police said authorities were searching for Smith in connection with a domestic violence allegation.

Julian Wilson was 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and two scored runs, and Savanah Quintana finished 4-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two scored runs for Watsonville (2-0).

Kevin Durant had 37 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots and almost single-handedly led the undermanned defending champions' fourth-quarter rally past the San Antonio Spurs for a 110-107 win Thursday night after Curry went down early.

Boedker scored San Jose's first power-play goal in a month, helping lift the Sharks past the St. Louis Blues 2-0 on Thursday night.