The Warriors got off to a torrid start Sunday, evened their road trip record at 2-2 and moved back into the No. 6 playoff position in the Western Conference.

After starting slowly in their first three games of the trip, the Warriors exploded out of the gate for 44 points in the first quarter and kept it up throughout a 148-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

The point total was the highest of the season, surpassing the 140 points against Portland in the regular-season opener on Oct. 23. The Warriors shot 57.7 percent from the floor (56-for-97) and were 21 of 44 from 3-point land. Even Kevon Looney, who didn’t have a 3-pointer all season, got into the act in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been talking about getting off to better starts and we got off to a great start,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The offense was pretty crisp, the guys did a good job defensively. That set the tone for the whole night.”

Of the Warriors’ 56 field goals, 42 came on assisted baskets. They committed only 12 turnovers.

At 42-31, the Warriors moved back into the sixth spot — the last position that doesn’t include a play-in game — with the Los Angeles Clippers moving from sixth to eighth at 42-32 after a road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Eight games remain in the regular season.

Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors with 27 points and had a career-high seven 3-point baskets in nine attempts. Moses Moody had 20 points and three 3-pointers, Buddy Hield 19, Draymond Green 14 and Jimmy Butler III and Stephen Curry 13 each.

“There was an emphasis on moving the ball, getting easy early shots, and then playing good defense and kind of putting the two things together,” Podziemski said. “We had two bad shooting nights in a row in Miami and New Orleans, so it had to come around at some point and tonight was the night.”

The biggest cheer came for Looney with his 3-pointer.

“Steve finally drew up a play for me, so I had to shoot it,” Looney said.

Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 19 points, with Sandro Mamukeleshvili scoring 14 and Devin Vassell 12.

The Warriors improved to 18-5 since the acquisition of Butler and are 11-0 with the starting lineup of Butler, Curry, Green, Moody and Podziemski. All five players were in double figures by the time the fourth quarter started.

By the time the Warriors made their first substitution with 5:21 left in the first quarter, they led 28-16.

In his pregame talk with reporters, Kerr explained why the smallish lineup has been so successful.

“The group complements each other,” Kerr said. “You’ve got the playmaking of B.P. and Jimmy, the shooting of Moses and Steph, and obviously Draymond anchoring everything. It’s a small group, but pretty dynamic offensively. It’s kind of a modern NBA lineup, but not without its challenges against certain matchups.”

After three quarters, the Warriors led by 38 points (111-73) and Podziemski already had a career high with six 3-point baskets.

The Warriors led 68-44 at halftime with one of their best halves of the season, albeit against a 31-43 Spurs team that’s without 7-foot-3 phenom Victor Wembanyama (blood clot), guard De’Aaron Fox (torn tendon) and coach Gregg Popovich (minor stroke), none of whom will be back before the season ends.

Curry led the Warriors with 11 points on six shots even though he didn’t score until 6:20 remained in the first quarter with the Warriors already leading by 13 points. Butler had 10 points and four assists and Green nine points.

About the only negative in the first half was the sight of Jonathan Kuminga taking a hard fall on his tailbone (similar to the one Curry had last week) and leaving with 5:33 left in the first half. Kuminga was ruled out at halftime, but not with a tailbone injury, but right ankle soreness. Kerr said he hoped the injury wasn’t serious enough for Kuminga to miss time.

The Warriors highest scoring first quarter of the season included 17-for-24 shooting (70.8 percent) coming just one game after opening with a 14-2 deficit against New Orleans. The 44 points was tied for the biggest quarter of the season, equaling that total on Dec. 8 against Minnesota.

Curry scored just two points — and by the time he took (and made) his first shot with 6:20 left and the Warriors already leading 24-11. Butler had 10 points in the quarter and Green nine.

Two games remain on a six-game road trip and both have considerable playoff ramifications.

The Warriors visit Memphis (44-30) Tuesday night, with the Grizzlies playing their second game after abruptly firing six-year coach Taylor Jenkins and replacing him with interim coach Tuomas Iisalo. Memphis is currently in the No. 5 position in the Western Conference.

Then on Thursday night, the road trip concludes in Los Angeles against the Lakers, the fourth seed at 45-29.

The trip started with back-to-back losses to Miami and Atlanta before a win over New Orleans when Curry was out with a pelvic contusion.

After the Warriors face the Lakers, they return to Chase Center on Thursday to host Denver on Friday and then Houston on Sunday.

Becoming A Contender is difficult business, filled with missteps, false starts, cul-de-sacs and distractions, and it is never more difficult than when a team that has been on power suck for most of the last decade and a half suddenly finds itself in other people’s late-season business.

Hence, the Detroit Pistons in this, the beginning of their latest renaissance, having to relearn everything here at the hinder end of the regular season. Since their last trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008, they have had the worst record in the NBA, their worst record in team history, the longest losing streak in league history, lost their last 12 playoff games, and in general been easy to dismiss—hence their persistent dismissal.

But they’re back this year, having carved out one of the greatest year-to-year improvements in NBA history and rebranding themselves as first-rate shit-stirrers in a conference that can use all the televisual irritants it can get. They came into Minneapolis on Sunday to face the equally attitudinal Minnesota Timberwolves, and they are constantly spoiling for some respect until the playoffs when respect is actually earned.

So it comes as little surprise that this happened:

Ever since Cooper Flagg scored 42 points against Notre Dame in January, setting an ACC record and cementing his Player of the Year candidacy, it has been difficult to be truly surprised by anything from the freshman phenom.

That changed Thursday night, as Flagg put forth a virtuoso performance, finishing with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks to lead Duke past Arizona 100-93 in the Sweet 16.

“That was one of the best tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the game.

The Blue Devils will face Alabama on Saturday in the Elite Eight.

Flagg was in legitimately rarefied air Thursday night. He became the first Duke player with 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in an NCAA tournament game since assists became an official statistic in 1984, according to ESPN Research, and just the second player with at least 30 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks in an NCAA tournament game since blocks became official in 1986. The other player to do it was UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon in 1994.

Flagg also became the first player with 30-5-5 and one or fewer turnovers since Chris Mullin in 1985.

“He just did what he was supposed to do, and he’ll move on and get ready for Alabama,” Scheyer said. “I think that’s the beauty of it with him. He doesn’t get caught up in all that.

“What I’ve wanted from him is not to defer. I’ve just wanted him to fully be him, and I thought he was that. He was in his element tonight. He was him. He had just a great personality. He was loose, talking, competitive, the whole thing. So yeah, he impresses me all the time.”

Early on, Flagg was quiet offensively, with just three points through 12 minutes. But he scored on back-to-back layups, hit a couple of tough shots and began to be more aggressive.

“I think just playing with really good energy, trusting our game plan, trusting my teammates,” Flagg said. “They put me in some really good spots tonight. Coach, as well, put me in some really good spots. I think just making the right play and just letting the game happen.”

Arizona had gone punch for punch with Duke for the first 19 and a half minutes, just one stop from going into halftime tied at 42. Then Kon Knueppel hit a 3; Caleb Love missed a shot with seven seconds left; Mason Gillis grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Flagg, who pulled up from several feet behind the 3-point line and buried the shot as time expired.

Suddenly, a tied score became a six-point Duke lead heading into the break — and a quick 14-5 Duke run coming out of halftime put the Blue Devils up 15, and the game was essentially out of reach.

Arizona wouldn’t get closer than five the rest of the game.

“We talk about inflection points, and the end of the half is a really big inflection point,” Knueppel said.

Added Scheyer: “That was critical in that moment.”

Duke hit 100 points for the fifth time this season and the fourth time since mid-February. The Blue Devils shot 60% from the field, 58% from 3 and 85% from the free throw line.

It’s the second time they beat Arizona this season; they scored a 69-55 win over the Wildcats in November.

“They’re a team that they come down, they have a plan, they know what they want to get, and they’re able to get to it consistently, which is hard to do,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We’re not a bad defensive team, but they make you feel like it for long stretches today

“They’ve done a really good job creating certainty, and all their young guys have gotten better. Their vets like [Tyrese] Proctor, Sion James — he’s impressive — have gotten better. Even Pat Ngongba has gotten better over the course of the year. They’ve got a lot of good pieces, and they all fit together.”

Love played the final game of his college career, and it was perhaps the best he has played since arriving at North Carolina in 2020. He had 35 points, single-handedly keeping the Wildcats within striking distance for long stretches in the second half.

Love became the first player with 35 points and no turnovers against a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament since Michael Finley in 1994, according to ESPN Research. He also became the second player in NCAA tournament history to have a 30-point game with two teams.

“Caleb is a great person, and he’s been through a lot,” Lloyd said. “I hope everybody takes a step back, whether they’ve been a hater or whatever or [piling on], and give this guy a real chance because he’s special. … Been through it, and he’s come out the other side of it better.”