Prior to this week, the Golden State Warriors had failed to record two-consecutive games of keeping their opponent below 100 points this season. Now, after a 115-97 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, the Warriors have three-straight games of achieving that feat.
Golden State’s defense had strangled the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic into submission over a pivotal back-to-back, and they found the same intensity to turn a first-half battle into a comfortable win over the 18-54 Hornets at Spectrum Center.
The Golden State Warriors have claimed their third-straight road victory and moved to a 39-34 record on the season
The Warriors were largely in control from the outset, limiting the Hornets to 17 first-quarter points as they built a nine-point advantage. The lacklustre hosts were more adventurous in the second-quarter, igniting slightly thanks to a barrage of hot shooting from Davis Bertans.
Stephen Curry’s buzzer-beating three gave Golden State a five-point lead at half, before Brandon Miller’s jumpshot to start the third reduced it back to three. The remainder of the period belonged to the visitors, having found their offensive groove to explode on a 21-7 run in less than six minutes.
The pass from Chris
The dunk from Trayce
ART. pic.twitter.com/poRL6OKvVT— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 30, 2024
The Warriors continued to bash up the Hornets on the inside, finishing the game with a 64-38 advantage in points in the paint. Charlotte never again truly threatened, with the game tapering off to nothing but a focus on whether Golden State could limit their opposition to less than 100 points again.
They eventually did that, having held Charlotte to a paltry 40.5% shooting from the floor and 26.1% from three-point range. Offensively, Golden State overcame the absences of Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson to shoot 53.9% from the floor, with Curry scoring a game-high 23 points in a balanced scoring display.
Andrew Wiggins continued his recent hot form with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while also adding two steals and a block in over 34 minutes. Rookie big man Trayce Jackson-Davis started again with Kuminga out, dominating on the interior to finish with 18 points (9-of-13 shooting), eight rebounds, two steals and three blocks.
The connection between Jackson-Davis and Chris Paul continued to be on show, with the veteran guard starting in place of Thompson. Paul had 11 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Moses Moody found his shooting stroke with 15 points on 4-of-5 from three-point range in 25 minutes off the bench.
The Warriors continue to cling onto the Western Conference’s tenth-seed ahead of the Houston Rockets, with their road record improving to 21-15 on the season ahead of a meeting with the Spurs in San Antonio on Sunday.
