Still, after seeing Curry erupt for a big offensive night before, the Mavericks know they’ll have to play their best in order to hand the Warriors just their second loss of the season. Shaun Livingston got the start in place of Curry and his backcourt partner Klay Thompson, the team’s second-leading scorer (19.3), struggled to a 4-of-15 shooting night and 10 points.ABOUT THE ROCKETS (16-17): Houston posted 71 points and led by 15 in the first half Tuesday before the Hawks rallied, finishing with 33 points off 20 Rockets turnovers. “It was just one of those nights”. Clear is the fact that Golden State was less prepared for this absence than the Mavericks were, period. The Dallas Mavericks won 114-91.
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Curry, who reportedly injured his leg Monday when the Warriors played Sacramento, took an MRI Wednesday that revealed “a bruise but no structural damage”, ESPN reports. That’s normally a good number of three-point attempts for most teams, but the Warriors are averaging a whopping 30 per game. Meanwhile, the Warriors will try to bounce back on Thursday when they face the Houston Rockets on the road for their final game of 2015.
“The attention that he brings in shot-making and the way the offence flows with him out there, obviously was a little bit different tonight”.
Center Zaza Pachulia turned in an early double-double with 14 points to go with 15 rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas had 24 points, and Evan Turner added 20 for Boston.
The Warriors looked out of sorts nearly from the beginning with their sharpshooting star watching from the bench in jeans and a black sport coat.
Golden State eviscerated the Rockets with an endless stream of weakside cuts to the basket in the first quarter, repeatedly exposing the Rockets’ defense.
“I don’t care about that, man”, Thompson said. The Mavericks won 114-91.
Despite the teams second loss of the season, Golden State is still the top ranked squad in the latest National Basketball Association power rankings. The pace was so effective that the Mavs led by as many as 30 points (83-53) with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter. Curry will be a game-time decision on Thursday when the Warriors play at the Houston Rockets.
Will Barton, traded by Portland to Denver last season, led the Nuggets with 31 points.
Thompson drilled a pair of pull-up jumpers off penetration, the second capping an 8-0 run that gave the Warriors (30-2) a 113-102 lead at Toyota Center.
Rose was scratched an hour before the game with right hamstring tendinitis.
“J.J.’s been great, shooting the ball incredibly well but taking good shots”, Harris said.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli and Leandro Barbosa and were coming off a blowout loss against the Dallas Mavericks the night before.
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JJ Redick’s 26 points helped the Los Angeles Clippers past the Charlotte Hornets 122-117 and the Orlando Magic rallied to a 100-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
