KLAY THOMPSON scored 40 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career and Draymond Green posted his franchise-best 12th triple-double to help the defending champion Warriors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-105 Sunday night.

    Stephen Curry had 20 points and eight assists and Green contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Golden State (66-7) stayed a game ahead of the pace set by the 1995-96 Bulls’ during their record 72-win season.

    Chicago was 65-8 through 73 games.

    Backup big man Marreese Speights added 17 points and seven rebounds in the Warriors’ 53rd straight regular-season victory at Oracle Arena and 35th consecutive at home this season.

    Carl Landry scored 22 points for the lowly Sixers, who lost their ninth in a row and 22nd in 23 while playing a back-to-back.

    Curry (350) and Thompson (253) have 603 combined 3s, the most by a pair of teammates in a season. Reigning NBA MVP Curry, already the first player in NBA history with 300 3s in a season, has nine games left to chase 400.

    Thompson shot 15 for 27 with seven 3-pointers and had his fourth 40-point game this season and eighth of his career, all coming at home. Speights hit his first six field-goal tries, including a pair of 3-pointers, and finished 7 for 10.

    “Coming down the floor, they’re always looking to rise up,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “Klay, you forget how big of a man he is apart from his quick release. You’re just afraid of this barrage of points, 3s, all of that. Speights came in and that’s a big man that can shoot, too.”

    Ish Smith added 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 10 assists for the 76ers, who rallied from 24 points down and 19 in the fourth quarter before losing 108-105 to Golden State in the first meeting Jan. 30 on Harrison Barnes’ game-winning 3 with 0.2 seconds left.

    (SD-Agencies)