Los Angeles: The Golden State Warriors shrugged off the absence of Stephen Curry to edge past the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday as a depleted Boston Celtics crashed to defeat against the Chicago Bulls.

The injured Curry and Draymond Green were both missing from the Warriors line-up in Oakland but Kevin Durant stepped up with 28 points as the NBA champions claimed a 111-104 win at the Oracle Arena.

Klay Thompson also grabbed 24 points for the Warriors, who remain second in the Western Conference standings with a 22-6 record behind first place Houston.

The Warriors recorded their seventh straight victory after overcoming a virtuoso performance from Portland’s Damian Lillard, who finished with 39 points.

The Rockets head the standings in the Eastern Conference after vanquishing the New Orleans Pelicans 130-123 at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets had a late scoring spree from guards James Harden and Chris Paul to thank for the win, which saw them overturn a 13-point third quarter deficit to claim a 10th straight victory.

Harden scored 26 points -- 12 of them in the fourth quarter -- while also notching a career-high 17 assists.

Paul also left his scoring late, with 16 of 20 points in the fourth.

Harden later revealed he had urged Paul to raise the tempo in the fourth quarter.

Agence France-Presse