Steph Curry crashes into Grant Williams early in Friday’s game. | Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Golden State held Charlotte to 84 points in an offensively-challenged showdown The Golden State Warriors have had spectacular offensive performances in losses all season. Friday night, they were happy with an ugly win. Golden State defeated the Charlotte Hornets, 97-84, in a game where both teams couldn’t shoot the ball for long stretches. Or even hang onto it. The Warriors held Charlotte to 29 first-half points and only 52 points through three quarters in a game where they struggled offensively but handily won each of the first three quarters by seven points each. After a slow first half, the Warriors put the Hornets away with a 30-point third quarter, highlighted by a spectacular pass from Steph Curry to Moses Moody. Steph finds Moody for SIX pic.twitter.com/kvLjrXuybj— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 Curry had an off night shooting, a typical event when he faces his brother, Seth, shooting 5-for-14 with five assists, and 3-for-11 from three-point range. However, Seth only scored six, meaning the pecking order among the Curry brothers remains intact. Steph is now 10-4 against his brother in the regular season. He still managed to ice the game with his final three-pointer, extinguishing the Hornets’ faint hopes with a bomb to put the Warriors up 18 with less than five minutes to go. Watching Steph shoot never gets old pic.twitter.com/LeC7zVXh2T— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 Steph’s Splash Brother bounced back from a rough shooting night Thursday with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Klay Thompson matched Curry with three triples in his new bench role for the Dubs, part of 44 bench points for the Warriors. Gary Payton II was the star in the first half, scoring eight points, as the Warriors didn’t have a double-digit scorer until the third. GPII shut down Seth Curry and showed off some creative towel-based headwear. GP2 is always having fun on the court pic.twitter.com/pOhofMHuf2— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 The All-Star break didn’t slow the incredible run the Warriors are on, winning eight of their last nine games and ten of their last twelve. It could have been an even more dominant run. Golden State’s last four losses include a one-point defeat to the Sacramento Kings, an overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks, a double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and a five-point loss to the Clippers which was a one-possession game in the final minute. At first, this one felt like it could be a trap game. The 14-41 Hornets have no playoff hopes, but they’d won four games in a row after a series of trades remade their team. The Warriors came out shooting poorly and throwing the ball away, but fortunately, so did Charlotte. They may have been doing their best to play down to the competition, but Charlotte showed a level of play far below what the Warriors could hit. Charlotte had 18 turnovers and went 11-39 from deep. At times, it felt like the Warriors were allowing open corner threes - and the Hornets kept missing them. Rookie Brandon Miller went 4-14, Tre Mann went 3-9, and only Miles Bridges, still facing a hearing for a domestic violence charge, was effective at all, scoring 19 points. 84 points is easily the lowest point total for a Warriors opponent this season. Draymond Green was a huge part of that, blocking two shots, getting a steal, and grabbing 13 rebounds. Jonathan Kuminga scored only six points, but got it done everywhere else. He had three blocks, two steals, seven rebounds, and a shocking six assists. JK feeds GP2 on the break pic.twitter.com/FCZ4krrjRx— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 It’s the second night in row the Warriors outrebounded a much bigger opponent, this time significantly (53-43). They got excellent board work from rookie Brandin Podziemski, who had six rebounds to go with six assists and 13 points. But his highlight was when he absolutely dropped Vasilije Micic and drilled a jumper to end the third quarter, to the delight of Green. Brandin put him in a spin-cycle like Tide Podz pic.twitter.com/pGqe8Pbx15— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 His fellow rookie, Trayce Jackson-Davis, added eight boards in his 14 minutes, as the Warriors have suddenly become a very respectable rebounding squad. Andrew Wiggins added 14 points on a highly-efficient eight shots - and on his 29th birthday! Birthday trey for Wiggs pic.twitter.com/OueLZ4n9I7— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 24, 2024 Give the birthday boy more shots, fellas! Things got chippy in the final seconds, when the Hornets took issue with Lester Quinones making a layup instead of taking a shot clock violation. Miles Bridges goaltended the shot then confronted Quinones, proving that he doesn’t just push and shove the mother of his children. Then Grant Williams, who averaged 4.2 points in Boston’s 2022 Finals loss to Golden State, jumped in. He and Quinones jawed at one another, with Quinones having choice words for the new Hornets forward. One particular word, and let’s just say it’s Too Short’s favorite word. Another angle of the scuffle:Lester Quinones ejected
Grant Williams ejected for escalating
Miles Bridges Techpic.twitter.com/2adGuLotQg https://t.co/tBMrmUz6PX— Alex (@Dubs408) February 24, 2024 The refs blew the whistle, Bridges got a technical, and the officials ejected Quinones and Williams. Look, if you want the other team to stop playing before the game’s over, you have to actually pull your starters, something that Steve Clifford didn’t do. But also, don’t use MILES BRIDGES as your guide for what’s an acceptable physical confrontation. Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson showed why he’s such a brilliant mind during the incident, placing his iPad over the baseline camera. “No snitching” applies to cameras, too. Miles Bridges wasn't happy the Warriors tried to score with a shot clock difference pic.twitter.com/tev3WL9SHz https://t.co/xsq8oa500w— Alex (@Dubs408) February 24, 2024 Next, the Warriors finish out their homestand with an early Sunday game against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Denver’s great, but the Warriors are red-hot. It’s a huge game in a closing third of the season where all the games are huge. They’re surviving so far.
Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2024/ ... in-9-games