For a second there, it looked like the Warriors’ 131 game streak without consecutive losses was going to come to an end.
As they so often do, however, Golden State turned things up late, and managed to pull away from the Charlotte Hornets 113-103, after falling behind by 10 points in the third quarter. The Warriors have now gone 132 games without losing two in a row.
Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 33 but was not his usual self for much of the game, leading both teams with six turnovers. Interestingly, it was Golden State’s role players who proved to be the most valuable Wednesday. Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston led the team in plus/minus, finishing with +25 and +14 respectively. James Michael McAdoo also took advantage of being thrown back into the rotation with his best game of the season, finishing with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, while also taking a charge in 17 minutes.
The Hornets were able to keep it close by dominating the Warriors on the offensive glass early on, and feasting on second chance opportunities.
Stephen Curry picked up right where he left off from his 40-point performance in Charlotte last year, dropping 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the first quarter. His most impressive play, however, was made at the basket, when he finished a twisting layup over the seven foot Roy Hibbert, after blowing by Kemba Walker with a cheeky hesitation move.
Steph WUT pic.twitter.com/u5na7HCMdM
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 26, 2017
Curry was Golden State’s lone bright spot during a sloppy start in which they committed four unforced turnovers, including Durant throwing a pass off Pachulia’s back, followed by a Thompson travel in transition. Still, the Warriors finished the opening quarter with a 29-28 lead.
With David West still recovering from a thumb injury, Steve Kerr used Wednesday as an opportunity to experiment with his bench rotations, electing to play Patrick McCaw over Ian Clark, and James Michael McAdoo over fan favorite JaVale McGee. The tweaks were effective. McAdoo played so well on both ends, including two blocks, Kerr left him in for 12 consecutive minutes, while McCaw was impactful enough to be included in Golden State’s end of quarter “death lineup” over Klay Thompson.
Their performances helped to compensate for a scoreless second quarter from Curry, as did Golden State going 7-of-15 from deep, entering the half with a 53-47 lead.
That lead dissipated two minutes into the next half, however, which saw the Warriors looking sluggish out of the locker room. Curry especially was an issue on the defensive end. The Hornets scored eight consecutive points at his expense at one stretch during the quarter, leading Steve Kerr to call timeouts just a minute apart.
Charlotte found themselves with a 10 point lead seven minutes into the quarter, killing Golden State on the offensive boards and with second chance points. Curry eventually woke up on the offensive end, scoring eight consecutive points of his own after going scoreless for a quarter and a half, including this transition three that followed an impressive Durant block.
Play of the night so far: Durant chasedown spike block of a Kemba Walker layup leads to Curry 3 pic.twitter.com/CGsUOHpV7f
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 26, 2017
McCaw made a rookie mistake at the end of the quarter, fouling Walker behind the three point line with 1.5 seconds remaining. Walker sunk all three giving Charlotte a 80-75 lead heading into the fourth. The Hornets outscored the Warriors 33-22 in the quarter.
Warriors took the lead back two-and-a-half minutes into the fourth, but kept Charlotte in the game by twice fouling three point shooters. On one occasion, Marco Belinelli duped the official into calling Klay Thompson for a foul by kicking out his leg. Thompson was incensed, earning his first technical foul of the season, and just the sixth of his career.
Golden State would weather the storm, playing their best in crunch time with Draymond Green at the five. Durant scored 16 in the final quarter, while Curry threw in 11. The Warriors outscored the Hornets 38-23 in the fourth.
The Warriors have two days off has they head back to the Bay Area for their second matchup of the season with the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle on Saturday. Blake Griffin is expected to be in LA’s starting lineup after returning from injury Tuesday.
