Stephen Curry scores 24, Jimmy Butler gets triple-double, Warriors beat Blazers for 5th straight win

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 24 points and moved within two 3-pointers of becoming the first player in NBA history with 4,000, Jimmy Butler had a triple-double, and the surging Golden State Warriors won their fifth straight game by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 130-120 on Monday night.

Curry, who became the 26th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points during Saturday’s win against Detroit, needed seven 3s to reach the milestone. He made his first two early then another three in the third.

Butler contributed 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for the Warriors' first triple-double this season. Golden State improved to 12-2 since Butler made his debut Feb. 8 and 12-1 in games he played.

Gary Payton II scored a career-high 26 points in the Warriors' 10th win in their last 11 games.

Deni Avdija returned from a two-game absence with a leg injury to record season-bests of 34 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in the Blazers’ fourth straight defeat. He's the first Blazer since Clyde Drexler on March 20, 1990, with that stat line.

Anfernee Simons added 32 points as Portland completed a back-to-back following a 119-112 home loss to the Pistons on Sunday.

Trail Blazers: Jerami Grant was sidelined for another game because of his troublesome right knee.

Warriors: Brandin Podziemski missed a second straight game with low back soreness that forced him out late in the first quarter at Brooklyn on March 6.

Butler pulled down an offensive rebound with 3:33 remaining to give him his 18th career triple-double in the regular season and 21st overall.

Golden State shot 51.2% from 3-point range, with Buddy Hield knocking down six 3s, Payton with four and three for 7-foot big man Quinten Post.

The Blazers return home to face the Knicks on Wednesday, while the Warriors host their Northern California rival Sacramento Kings on Thursday to continue a seven-game homestand.

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

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) lays up a shot over Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III passes the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) reacts after scoring as Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives the ball past Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after scoring alongside guard Gary Payton II (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker.

Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism.

Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History.

“She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers’ rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,” PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time.

PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced.

The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of “originality, merit, and impact.” The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization.

On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him.

Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang.

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.

Governor of Maine Janet Mills attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Author Sebastian Junger attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Actor Sarah Jessica Parker attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Actor Sarah Jessica Parker attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Comedian Amber Ruffin attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Sarah Jessica Parker appears at the premiere of "Hocus Pocus 2" in New York on Sept. 27, 2022, left, and Amber Ruffin appears at the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2023, (AP Photo)