Stephen Curry scored 26 points for the Warriors, who extended their National Basketball Association record unbeaten start, and it was his three-pointer with 51 seconds left that eventually broke a tie and helped them prevail.
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Steph Curry and Draymond Green matched that effort with one worthy of extending it to 19-0.
Charlotte won’t have one of its top scorers available for Wednesday’s matchup, however, as center Al Jefferson will be sidelined two to three weeks after straining his left calf against the Bucks.
“We’ve had some battles and, obviously, we’ve had some lopsided victories”, Curry said. “That’s the only thing that motivates us”. Trevor Booker had a steal and dunk in the fourth that cut the lead to one point as did Rudy Gobert’s one-handed dunk off a lob.
“I think everybody’s just gotten used to us beating teams by 20 and then we have a close game”, said Green, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. They have stepped up defensively, holding their last five opponents to 95 points or fewer. Leandro Barbosa added 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 5 for 5 on 3s.
“You set the tone with it”, he said, “but you let the other teams know that when we’re coming to town you’re going to have to take it from us”. “They shoot 3s like layups”.
Russell Westbrook had another outstanding game for the Thunder as he recorded a double-double, which consisted of 34 points and 11 rebounds.
Alec Burks led the team on Saturday with 21 points. Klay Thompson scored 15 for the Warriors.
The Jazz have a great defense and are a lot better than people give them credit for. But that’s the type of game it turned into.
The Jazz had a golden opportunity to stop the Warriors’ streak as Utah had the 99-97 lead at the 2:05 mark of the final quarter. “We didn’t do that”. If they’re 41 and 2 or something like that then I would say they probably have a good shot. And if they continue to blow people out every night and allow their star players to get rest, they’re going to be very well-prepared for the playoffs.
Curry quickly put the Warriors up 104-101 with a 3-pointer.
MCEVERS: I mean, past year Golden State had this historically great season on the way to winning the title. Shaun Livingston also came up big in the fourth quarter, even hitting his first three of the season. The Warriors led 44-27 after their highest-scoring first quarter since March 25, 2011. His 12 points at halftime were the most of any Warriors player.
It will be a tale of two tempos, as the fast-breaking Warriors (ranked third in the league in possessions per game) take on the slow-paced Jazz (29th). Harrison Barnes missed his second consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. X-rays were negative, Walton said, but it wasn’t known how long Barnes might be out.
The Warriors have won 23 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season.
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Golden State is 6-0 away from home but dropped its most recent visit to Denver on March 13. A huge Panthers fan, Curry already has banged the “Keep Pounding” drum this season for Carolina and says he has a vision of the 11-0 Panthers becoming the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go the entire year without losing a game.
