The Golden State Warriors (19-0) were at Time Warner Cable Arena to face the Charlotte Hornets (10-7) tonight.
The Warriors, in their home whites as the Hornets went with their version of “slate” black sleeved jerseys, were without Harrison Barnes (sprained left ankle) while the Hornets were without Al Jefferson (left calf strain) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (right shoulder surgery).
1st Quarter – Klay-Pot
Klay Thompson got off to a blistering start, canning two jumpers assisted by Draymond Green, a three-pointer in transition after a tip-in by Hornets’ power forward Marvin Williams…
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…another three on a back-tap offensive rebound by Andrew Bogut after a miss by Brandon Rush…
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…and another triple on a catch-and-pivot from a sideline-inbound from the right side in which Andrew Bogut freed him with a baseline pick:
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Rush got his first three from the left corner to fall, assisted by Green again, but missed the next one from the right corner, although that one was the one that Bogut tapped to Klay.
Stephen Curry added a crossover past Kemba Walker that finished down the lane with a layup on the left board for Green, and the Warriors were up early, 18-9, with 7:15 to play, as Hornets head coach Steve Clifford took a timeout after Thompson’s last bucket.
Curry then took over on two straight possessions after Bogut got a tap-in lefty.
First, Steph probed at the top, then the side, off the bounce, and drilled a three from the right wing the moment he got daylight:
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Then after Cody Zeller hit a jumper from the top, Curry pulled up in transition:
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Thompson got his 14th and 15th points on this beautiful overhead lead pass from Green…
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…and Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton took his first timeout after Nic Batum got a tough jumper to drop after an on-ball screen.
Golden State held a 28-15 lead with 4:17 to go as Festus Ezeli and Andre Iguodala checked in.
But then the Warriors got the turnover bug and committed three straight bad ones, including a one-handed careless type from Green in transition to Curry on the right wing, as well as a bad touchdown attempt from Curry to Iguodala in traffic as Andre couldn’t quite get it while tip-toeing the baseline.
Still, Golden State regrouped, got an alley-oop from Green to Shaun Livingston and an Ezeli putback jam…
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…before Jeremy Lin dished to Jeremy Lamb for a baseline jumper that made it 30-22 with 58 seconds left.
After Iguodala airballed a right corner three on a pass by Draymond, the Warriors held a 32-23 lead going into the second period.
2nd Quarter – Bench Jams!
The Warriors got some more separation quickly in the second frame as Walton went with a bench unit Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Iguodala, Marreese Speights, and James McAdoo.
Livingston got this alley-oop…
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…as did McAdoo…
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and Speights swished a jumper and the Warriors were up as much as 41-25 early, thanks to Iguodala getting three consecutive offensive rebounds in one sequence, with Barbosa rewarding him at the end of it:
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Spencer Hawes countered with a couple inside buckets, but Green went coast-to-coast after Thompson stole a bad pass by Batum:
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Still, the Hornets bench clawed them back as Hawes’ second field goal, a flip shot from the painted area, represented Charlotte’s 17th point off the bench out of a total of 34 as they trailed by 14, 48-34, with 5:50 left before the half.
Batum drained a jumper to pull the Hornets to within 48-40 with 4:06 to go, but after Klay missed a backdoor jam, blocked by Williams, Batum couldn’t take advantage as he missed a deep left wing trey off the back iron.
Curry made the Hornets pay with a dribble drive into the lane on the left side and an “and-one” bucket as Charlotte backup point guard Brian Roberts tried to take a charge inside the restricted area.
Before the break, both teams traded blows as Ian Clark got on the board again with the sixth of Green’s seven first-half assists:
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…and Curry made a three to tally his 12th point…
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…answered by a Roberts three, Bogut got a layup on a laser inside pass from Steph, who also found Klay for a layup.
The Warriors took a 60-51 lead into halftime as Kemba Walker remained scoreless as he missed a jumper at the buzzer.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @jackarnold21)
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