warriors vs magic recap (Photo: @matterofsqueak Instagram account)
ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Coming into yesterday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic, the Golden State Warriors hadn’t swept the Magic in a single season since the 1991-92 NBA season.
Stephen Curry had 23 points and 5 assists, while Klay Thompson also added 20 points, as the Warriors beat the Magic, 103-89.
FIRST HALF
The Warriors shot a lot of threes in the first quarter and they were only 1-for-5 from downtown. Orlando played really good defense throughout the first frame.
Steve Blake checked in for Thompson late in the quarter. Thompson and Speights were involved in early foul trouble for the Warriors, as both had two fouls in the first quarter.
The Magic shot 60.0% percent in the first quarter opposed to the Warriors who shot 52.2%.
The Warriors went small in the second quarter and it paid off as the Warriors went on a small run to give them a 57-47 lead at halftime.
SECOND HALF
In the second half, the Warriors started off hot. The #SplashBrothers Curry and Thompson helped Golden State go on an 18-0 run and the Warriors never looked back.
“I think that was the best we moved the ball in consecutive possessions,” said Curry in explaining the outburst, “There weren’t a lot of pick-and-rolls, but just find the right guy, turn down good shots for better shots.”
The Warriors shot 10-for-27 from beyond the arc, as opposed to the Magic, who shot 4-for-13. Nikola Vucevic had 15 points and Tobias Harris had 14.
The Magic now have lost six in a row. The Warriors with the win remain in the sixth seed in the West. They are 1 1/2 games behind Portland. As for the Magic they are one of the NBA’s worst team and are likely to get a top five pick in this year’s draft.
David Lee added 20 points for the Warriors. Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Jermaine O’Neal didn’t play due to injuries. Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green got the call as starters for the game.
“I was getting my Pop (Gregg Popovich) on,” said coach Mark Jackson in the post-game press conference, citing his decision not to play O’Neal even though he was listed as active, “Just resting. He’s been beaten up pretty much. If I had to use him, he was available, but he hasn’t practiced much and took a good hit in the Portland game.”
The bench held the fort for the better part of the game, although the Warriors lead slowly melted down as low as eleven, at which point Jackson inserted the starters one last time with about six minutes to play, to deliver the death blow to the Magic.
“You have a guy like Draymond who can come in and play a lot of different positions,” Curry said after the game, “Mo (Marreese Speights comes in after not having played much as of late, comes in and provides us instant impact on both ends of the floor. We’re a deep team so a big performance by everybody, especially at the defensive end, and good to get the win.”
“It was a good win for us,” Speights said, “You saw how deep our team is that we had four guys really out and the reserves came in, starters came in and played good.”
“We handled our business and competed,” Jackson said, “I thought we were very unselfish and did a great job of sharing the basketball. We got some good play from our bench also. We continue to chalk up wins and we are closing it out the right way. I’m even more pleased that we could do it with guys getting rest and proper treatment. Just a big win for us.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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