In a game they had to win, the Golden State Warriors needed
their starting point guard to play big. Stephen Curry responded by
leading a furious third-quarter rally to carry the host Warriors to
a 102-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday.
OAKLAND
In a game they had to win, the Golden State Warriors needed their starting point guard to play big.
Stephen Curry responded by leading a furious third-quarter rally to carry the host Warriors to a 102-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday.
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One game after outplaying Oklahoma City’s All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, Curry went toe-to-toe with arguably the game’s best point guard in New Orleans’ Chris Paul.
Paul finished with 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting with 10 assists. Curry finished with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting with eight assists.
But Curry had more help Tuesday. Forwards Dorell Wright and David Lee combined for 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Guard Monta Ellis had 21 points and forward Vladimir Radmanovic had 13 off the bench.
Paul was aided by 15 points each from forward David West and reserve guard Marco Belinelli, a former Warrior. But that was it.
Golden State (25-29) has won six of its past eight games. With one game left before the All-Star break — Wednesday at Utah, where the Warriors have a rough time competing — Tuesday’s game against the Hornets was critical. Early on, it looked as if they were going to blow it.
It was a relatively atrocious start for the Warriors. They missed their first four shots and got into a 7-0 hole in less than two minutes. After a 3-pointer Belinelli, who spent his first two seasons in Oakland, the Warriors trailed 32-15.
By the end of the first quarter, Golden State was down 32-22. It had missed 11 of 18 shots and turned the ball over four times.
This time, the Warriors made up the difference in a hurry. Down 39-26 some three minutes into the second quarter, the Warriors went on a run.
At one point, it made five straight baskets, three of them 3-pointers. The last, a pull-up from the top by Ellis, gave the Warriors a 47-46 lead with 3:45 left in the second quarter. The Warriors led 58-53 at the half.
The momentum carried over into the third, thanks to Curry. He had nine points on three shots and had five assists in the third quarter.
After New Orleans had regained the lead, 61-60, the Warriors went on an 11-2 run to again take control of the game. Curry started the run assisting on a Lee jumper. Curry then knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers before capping the run by zipping a pass to Lee in the lane for a dunk and the foul. Golden State led 71-63 with 6:11 left after Lee completed the three-point play.
On consecutive possessions, Curry set up easy baskets with highlight-reel passes. First, he threaded the needle with a left-handed pass in transition to Wright, who dunked it home. On the next Warriors possession, Curry lofted a perfect pass over the defense to a streaking Ellis for a dunk.
At the 1:15 mark, Curry knocked down his third 3-pointer of the quarter, putting the Warriors up 82-71. They went into the fourth quarter up 12 and never looked back.
Curry has 21 assists and three turnovers his past three games.
— Story by Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times
