Stephen Curry (right) of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against the Indiana Pacers on December 14, 2022 in Indianapolis, the US. Photo: VCG

NBA champion Stephen Curry suffered a left shoulder injury late in the third quarter of reigning NBA champions Golden State's 125-119 loss at Indiana on Wednesday.

Curry, June's NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, was hurt trying to strip the ball from Indiana's Jalen Smith as the Pacer drove to the hoop.

Curry held his shoulder until leaving the game moments later and was taken quickly to the locker room.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry will have an MRI exam on Thursday to determine the extent of the 34-year-old guard's injury.

"We'll see how he is tomorrow," Kerr said. "He's in good spirits and we'll hope for the best."

Curry finished with game highs of 38 points and seven assists as well as seven rebounds. He scored 27 points in the two quarters, half of the Warriors' first-half total as they trailed 74-54, and finished with his 250th career 30-point performance.

Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 29 points while reserve Bennedict Mathurin added 24 for the Pacers.

Golden State, seeking a fifth NBA title in nine seasons, fell to 14-15 overall and 2-12 on the road.

"My message to the group was it's about competing, it's about weathering the storm," Kerr said. "This has been a tough start to the season. We're in a tough stretch."

Curry has averaged 30 points a game this season and hit 50 percent from the floor. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots a game.

Losing Curry for any length of time would be a major setback for the ­Warriors.

"Maybe it's going to get tougher if Steph is out for a little while. If he's out, for sure it will be tougher," Kerr said.

"But you've just got to persevere, keep playing and keep fighting. If we're healthy we feel like we can beat anybody."

Also on Wednesday, Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 43 points and added 14 rebounds and eight assists, Bones Hyland had 23 points and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Washington Wizards 141-128.

Aaron Gordon had 22 points, Bruce Brown added 13, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 11 and Jeff Green had 10 for Denver, which scored a season high to win its third straight game.

Kyle Kuzma led Washington with 24 points, and Will Barton had 22 points and nine assists. Monte Morris added 20 points, while Corey Kispert notched 16 for the Wizards.

Barton and Morris played their first games against their former team.

Elsewhere, Tyler Herro tied a career high with 35 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 110-108 win over the host Oklahoma City Thunder.

Herro had a career-high nine three-pointers as the Heat set a franchise record with 24 three-pointers.

But it was inside the arc where Herro came through for the decisive bucket.

Herro drained a pull-up jumper with 5.7 seconds remaining to break a tie, and Miami held on after a time-out.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a jumper in the closing seconds. Josh Giddey grabbed the rebound, but his shot hit off the bottom of the backboard to end the game, though Giddey argued for a foul call as Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon surrounded him.

Miami have won the first two games of a four-game road trip while the Thunder have lost four consecutive games.

Paul George managed a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to spark the host Los Angeles Clippers over Minnesota 99-88. Kawhi Leonard added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers.

New York's Jalen Brunson scored six points in ­overtime as the Knicks outscored the Chicago Bulls 11-3 in the extra session for a 128-120 road victory.

Julius Randle led New York with 31 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while Brunson had a ­season-high 30 points and DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 32 for the Bulls.

Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox scored 27 points and passed off 10 assists while Domantas Sabonis added 21 points and 20 rebounds to lift the Kings to a 124-123 victory at Toronto.

Alec Burks came off Detroit's bench to score 27 points while Killian Hayes had 25 for the Pistons in a 141-134 victory at Charlotte.

Germany's Franz Wagner scored 24 points and Sudanese-born Bol Bol added 21 to lead the ­Orlando Magic over visiting Atlanta 135-124.

Wagner scored 11 points in the first ­quarter, when Orlando set a club record by scoring 50 points. It was one shy of the NBA first-quarter record set by Denver in 2019.