San Francisco –
Finally, the Warriors are playing their best basketball and taking care of business against teams they should beat. A stark contrast to the squad that ended the first half of the season hovering around .500, they’re now climbing the Western Conference standings—a challenging feat in such a competitive field.
Golden State dominated the Charlotte Hornets 128-92, closing out their two-game homestand before hitting the road. The Warriors became the fifth NBA team to reach 3,000 regular-season wins. Seven players scored in double figures, and the team knocked down 15 threes, including four from Buddy Hield.
“That was the main message pregame was just we’re not in a position to overlook anybody,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “We’re fighting to try to get into the playoffs. So I liked it. Slow start the first few minutes but we got it going and held them to 18 in the first quarter, so set a good tone defensively and took care of business.”
Golden State controlled the game from the start, taking a 56-41 lead into halftime. Gary Payton II shined with 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists, while Draymond Green contributed 9 points.
In the third quarter, the Warriors delivered a strong team effort. Green and Stephen Curry each had 15 points, with Moses Moody adding 10. Their defense intensified, forcing the Hornets into costly turnovers and missed shots, building their biggest lead of the night at 78-48. The momentum continued as Payton and Buddy Hield drained back-to-back threes, extending Golden State’s lead to 97-65 by the end of the period.
“I think we’re going to continue to figure out more and more offensively, just in spots guys like the ball in, unlocking different scenarios on the offensive side,” Green said. “Defensively, I think we can continue to get better. A couple of times tonight, we had a couple of lapses where we gave up a couple of threes, so I think we can continue to improve that stuff. Our offensive execution, I think, has been pretty good because we have great players. But as far as execution, I feel like we can still do that better as a collective because as you get to the playoffs, everybody has to be executing at the same level, so I think we can continue to get better at that as well.”
Photo by GSW/X
