THE Golden State Warriors needed until midway through the second quarter to find their rhythm against the West’s last-place team.

Once they did, the NBA champions rolled to victory again.

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Kevin Durant added 25, leading the Warriors over the Phoenix Suns 132-109 Monday night.

The Warriors beat the Suns for the 17th straight time, including eight in a row in Phoenix.

Golden State (25-13) was 14 for 28 on 3-pointers, with Curry going 5 of 9.

“Pretty much the whole second quarter and beyond, we were just disciplined defensively and played with a purpose on offense,” Curry said. “Created good shots. It was a great night.”

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost five of six. T.J Warren added 24 points and Devin Booker had 20.

Golden State led for all but 1 minute, 17 seconds of the first half, though the Suns stayed close early. The Warriors went ahead 39-31 on a 3 from Curry with 10 minutes to go in the second.

Curry had 12 points in the second quarter and added a team-high nine rebounds for the game.

The Suns scored the next eight points to tie it, and were even at 45 before the Warriors closed out the half on a 24-7 run.

A 3 from Andre Iguodala, a layup and free throw from Jonas Jerebko and Iguodala’s pair of free throws gave the Warriors a 69-52 lead at the break.

“There’s such a low margin for error when you play the champs,” Suns coach Igor Kokoskov said.

Ayton’s hook shot with 6:19 left in the third quarter cut the Warriors’ lead to 82-72, but Golden State took control again. A 3 and two free throws from Durant gave the Warriors a 100-81 lead with 1:38 to play.

“I thought we slowed them down and we beat them with our minds instead of just outrunning them,” Durant said. “Our offense and our talent just take over and we just made shots.”

Quinn Cook knocked down a 3 just before the third-quarter buzzer for a 108-87 lead, and Curry’s two 3s early in the fourth quarter helped Golden State go up by 27 points.

“They just turned it up,” Ayton said. “They got a lot of transition baskets, they got a lot of early stops and forced a lot of tough shots.”

Meanwhile, James Harden had 43 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in his fourth straight 40-point game, leading the Rockets over the Memphis Grizzlies 113-101 for their fifth consecutive victory.

The Beard was busy critiquing himself and pointing out ways he could have played better.

“I did a poor job of just not controlling the basketball, basically giving them transition points by turnovers,” he said. “I have to take care of the ball more, but just continue to be aggressive and make plays for my team.”

Harden set an NBA record with his eighth straight game with at least 35 points and five assists, besting Oscar Robertson, who twice had seven-game streaks. Harden finished with his fourth triple-double this season and 39th overall. Houston has won 10 of its last 11 to improve to 21-15. Harden continued his incredible run that has powered Houston’s surge up the Western Conference standings after a slow start, making six 3-pointers and 21 of 27 free throws.

(SD-Agencies)