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Steve Kerr becomes the fourth-fastest coach to 600 wins, trailing only Jackson, Riley and Popovich

WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve Kerr could finally celebrate win No. 600.

The Golden State coach is one of the fastest to reach the milestone, but after he made it to 599 the Warriors lost five in a row. They snapped that skid with a 125-117 win over Washington on Monday night.

“Not a great basketball game,” Kerr said. “But we needed the win and were good enough to get the win.”

Kerr reached 600 in his 943rd regular-season game. Only three coaches have needed fewer, according to information from the Elias Sports Bureau distributed by the Warriors. Phil Jackson did it in 805 games, Pat Riley in 832 and Gregg Popovich in 887.

“It’s surreal to hear my name in that group, but I can tell you that one thing that bonds us all together — those names and mine — is talent,” Kerr said. “You can’t win in this league without great players, and I was blessed from the day I took this job with incredible talent.”

There hasn’t been as much of it in Golden State’s recent lineups. Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler are out with injuries, and the Warriors are mired in a race for positioning in the play-in round in the Western Conference. They did have Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis back after resting them in Sunday’s loss at New York.

Porzingis scored a game-high 30 points.

“He’s quite a talent,” Kerr said. “We’re also on the Kristaps Porzingis reunion tour. It’s kind of crazy. We’re playing every one of his former teams. The Knicks, Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas — all five of his teams, we’re seeing on this trip. Players usually get up for playing against their old teams.”

Up next for the Warriors is a matchup with the Celtics on Wednesday night.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Jalen Brunson scores 30 and Knicks finish on 11-0 run, steal Game 1 from Spurs with 105-95 win

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The New York Knicks' winning streak lives on, and they struck first in the NBA Finals. Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 of the finals on Wednesday night. OG Anunoby had 17 points for New York — which has won 12 consecutive playoff games, the seventh team to have such a streak in NBA history, and is the third to do it in a single season. Brunson scored 13 points in the fourth, only six fewer than San Antonio managed as a team in that quarter, and sealed it with a spinning jumper while falling to the court with 38 seconds left. “He's a gamer, man,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “In the biggest moments, he shows up. That's what MVPs are supposed to do.”
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