Golden State Warriors

Magic start strong but can't keep up with Warriors

Published Jan. 22, 2017 6:04 p.m. ET

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The noon Eastern Standard Time tipoff was more than a little challenging for Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. At first, anyway.

Tied at halftime, the Warriors woke up. Curry and Klay Thompson each finished with seven 3-pointers and the Warriors won their seventh straight game, beating the Orlando Magic 118-98 on Sunday.

This was the first Eastern time zone noon tip for the Warriors since 1995, when they lost by 34 points in Orlando.

"It just challenges you mentally," Curry said of the early start. "We were talking about it in the locker room before the game. It is early, but it doesn't matter what time the game is, we have go out and get a win."

Curry had 14 points as the Warriors outscored Orlando 42-24 in the third quarter. He didn't play in the fourth period.

Curry went 7 for 13 on 3s and scored 27 points while Thompson as 7 for 9 from behind the arc and had 21 points. The Warriors shot 19 of 42 overall from 3-point range while the Magic went 7 for 28.

After trailing by 11 in the first half and committing a dozen turnovers, the Warriors went into the break even at 50.

"Third quarter was great," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It seems to be the time when we pick up our defense and it translates into some transition hoops and 3-pointers."

Kevin Durant added 15 points for the Warriors, Zaza Pachulia had 14 and JaVale McGee added 13.

Elfrid Payton led Orlando with 23 points. Nikola Vucevic, Jeff Green, C.J. Watson and Bismack Biyombo each had 12.

"I think they took care of the ball much better in the third quarter," Vucevic said. "We didn't do a good job defensively."

TIP-INS

Warriors: Lost at Orlando 132-98 on March 26, 1995, in their previous noon tip in the East. ... Kerr decided to rest backup point guard Shaun Livingston.

Magic: Starting guard Evan Fournier missed his fifth straight game with a right foot injury. ...D.J. Augustin sprained his right ankle during the second quarter and did not return to the game. ... The Magic signed D-League affiliate Erie BayHawks forward Anthony Brown to a 10-day contract Sunday. Brown is averaging 21.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and one steal in 16 games with the BayHawks.

NO BEEF

It has been rumored that Durant and Serge Ibaka didn't get along when they were teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The former teammates met Sunday on opposite sides for the first time since they both departed Oklahoma City last summer. There seemed to be a couple of unfriendly exchanges between Durant and Ibaka during the game but Durant said that wasn't the case.

"I was not jawing with Serge," said Durant. "Y'all want me to be beefing with every player in the league. I was not jawing with Serge."

UP NEXT

Warriors: Golden State has a short trip for a back-to-back swing against Miami on Monday night.

Magic: Orlando hopes to make up ground on current No. 8 seed Chicago when the Bulls come into Amway Center on Tuesday.