The Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 94-92 at Chase Center on Sunday to secure the second straight win.

Donovan Mitchell sat on this game for the Jazz due to concussion protocol, which partly explained the struggling offensive performance by the team. However, that did not make the win much easier for the Warriors because Stephen Curry had one of the worst shooting games, missing 15 of 20 field goal (FG) attempts, including 12 from downtown.

It has been at least eight years since Curry did not have to face double-teaming during most of the time he had the ball on the floor. Three of the shots he made, including the only 3-pointer, happened in the first quarter. He became the only minus guy in the team's starting lineup.

"It's obviously frustrating. I want to shoot the ball; it's frustrating. I kicked the chair the other day for that reason," Curry said. "It's not like I don't care and not trying to figure it out, but I don't get preoccupied with it."

The good news for the Warriors was that Jordan Poole, Otto Porter Jr. and Damion Lee were still able to provide firepower from outside, combining 11-18 at the 3-point line. The team couldn't have beaten the opponents at home while scoring only 11 points in Q4 without the work done by Pool, Porter Jr. and Lee in the first three quarters.

Of course, the Jazz was not much better than the Warriors in the last quarter, during which they only had 17 points. The whole team went through a 5:09-long FG drought and then a 3:37-long scoring drought.

Jazz head coach Quin Snyder should be held responsible for the loss as well as his decision to bench Rudy Gobert in the last two minutes. Before he was substituted, the French Giant got 12 points and 18 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. However, in the second possession following that substitution, Kevon Looney grabbed an offensive rebound for the Warriors and completed a three-point play with a putback shot over Eric Paschall, extending the lead from two (91-89) to five (94-89) points.

"It was big for me; I showed a lot of emotion," Looney said.

Mavericks become the first team to beat Grizzlies three times

The Dallas Mavericks beat the Memphis Grizzles 104-91 at American Airlines Center on Sunday, becoming the first and only team to get three wins over the hard-boned Grizzlies this season.

The Mavericks almost smothered the Grizzlies at home on Sunday with their league's fourth-best defense. They might not be able to stop Ja Morant from dropping 35 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, the Mavericks made Morant the lonely hero who watched only two of the rest Grizzlies reach double-digit points, at 10 and 12. Morant tried hard to bring along his teammates, but he ended up committing seven turnovers while the rest of the team shot at 23-68 in FGs and 4-21 in triples.

The Grizzles reached season lows on multiple fronts in the first half of the game: points (34), FG rate (28 percent) and 3-point rate (14.3 percent, 2-14).

"We couldn't make a shot tonight," Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said. "Our defense was there. Just our offense couldn't get it done."

Unfortunately, their defense was not there to contain Luka Doncic who missed one assist for a triple-double that included 37 points and 1 rebounds. His 3-point shooting (2-7) was not impressive, but Doncic made up for it by shooting to kill in the middle range and stepping to the free throw line 12 times.

"Everybody's involved," Doncic said. "Everybody's helping each other. That's what we've got to do."

Kristaps Porzingis provided a lot of assistance to Doncic by being an efficient finisher under the rim and joining hands with Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber to establish a no-fly zone within the Mavericks' key on season-high 12 blocks in total.

"We know if we don't come and play with that toughness that they're going to get us out of the gym," Finney-Smith said.

Timberwolves prey on Nets at home

The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Brooklyn Nets 136-125 at Target Center on Sunday to secure the third win of the past four games.

Timberwolves young "Three-Headed Monster," Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell combined 81 points against the almost-none-existent defense of the Nets. Another three of their teammates, including two off the bench, also scored double-digit points. The whole team earned a total of 31 free throws and made 26 of them.

"It doesn't have to be me every night," Towns said after getting 23 points, second-high of the team after 25 of Edwards. "That's why we have great talents like D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards. You've got to be able to lean on them. They can carry the load just as well as myself."

"Those guys are coming in, bringing their own energy and spice to the game," Russell said. "That takes the pressure off everybody."

Having scored 125 points on the road on Sunday night, the Nets did their best offensively, except for James Harden who went 4-13 in FGs and 1-4 in 3-pointers. Delivering 13 assists was proof for a good orchestrator, but the team needed more than 13 points from him.

Harden was unhappy that he only stepped onto the free-throw line four times. "Obviously, you can't call all of them, but there's ones where there's a clear stiff-arm and trips and things like that. But on the other end, there's no consistency. So, it's frustrating," he said.

Kyrie Irving put down court-high 30 points, including 20 in the second half for the Nets. It's his first 30+point game since he returned to play, but not good enough to help the team pocket the third consecutive win.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Los Angeles Clippers 102-110 New York Knicks

Los Angeles Lakers 107-113 Miami Heat

Chicago Bulls 95-114 Orlando Magic

Portland Trail Blazers 114-105 Toronto Raptors

Atlanta Hawks 113-91 Charlotte Hornets

Philadelphia 76ers 115-109 San Antonio Spurs

Detroit Pistons 111-117 Denver Nuggets