Golden State Warriors come alive late in win over Hornets
Kevin Durant led an onslaught of offense late in the fourth quarter to lift the Golden State Warriors over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
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For the 132nd time, the Golden State Warriors have not lost back-to-back games. A good portion of the second half against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, made that streak feel like it was in danger. That was until Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry broke things open late.
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Much like the loss against the Miami Heat on Monday night, the Warriors came out slow in the second half. The energy wasn’t there like some people have come to expect. On the opposite end of the floor, Nic Batum hit some big shots to give his team the lead and it felt like the Hornets could run away with the game.
The Warriors’ turnovers were an issue and it gave Charlotte all the momentum they needed. Their issues carried over into the fourth quarter and two big mistakes almost tilted the game completely in Charlotte’s favor.
As Marco Belinelli unloaded twice from three, he was fouled. Belinelli has a unique shooting style with a leg kick that makes it easier to pick up fouls and that seemed to wake Golden State up. Durant began to take over from there.
With some mid-range jumpers, Durant started to find a little bit of a groove for himself. Stephen Curry would shake off Belinelli and hit a huge three to put the game out of reach. He wasn’t done in his homecoming hitting the big shots. He put the final nail in the coffin with one more big three as the Curry fans in attendance cheered.
When the Warriors were once again facing some serious adversity and were in jeopardy of losing a major NBA record streak, their superstars took over. Durant couldn’t miss late and dagger shots from Curry were just way too much to handle. The icing on the cake might have been a fast break dunk from Draymond Green, after he had one swatted earlier.
The Warriors finished the road trip 3-1 and will now head home to face the Los Angeles Clippers. With their hated rivals coming into the Oracle banged up, it could be an opportunity for Golden State to get a huge win in front of the fans and get the momentum rolling again toward another lengthy winning streak.
