Warriors at Thunder
The Golden State Warriors have looked tired and vulnerable at times on their road trip, but Stephen Curry has been around to bail the team out. The Warriors will close out the seven-game trip with their biggest test of the excursion when they visit Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
Curry drained a pair of go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minute-plus and hit four free throws down the stretch in Miami on Wednesday to drag Golden State to a 118-112 victory, and followed it up by pouring in 51 points on 20-of-27 shooting in a 130-114 win at Orlando the next night. The reigning MVP is averaging 36.6 points and shooting 52.5 percent from 3-point range in five games since the All-Star break, capped by Thursday’s 10-of-15 effort from beyond the arc. Westbrook and Durant combined for 76 points on Thursday but it wasn’t quite enough to avoid a 123-119 loss at New Orleans that marked the team’s third setback in the four games since the All-Star break. “They just got at us today,” Durant told reporters after the latest setback. “They scored whenever they wanted and they did whatever they wanted. We didn’t show any resistance.”
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (52-5): Curry’s first 3-pointer on Thursday pushed him past Atlanta’s Kyle Korver and set an NBA record for making a 3-pointer in 128 consecutive regular-season games. “I don’t know that the record is that significant, because it’s so simple for him,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters of Curry. “A 3-point shot is like a layup. A halfcourt shot is like a 3-point shot. This is just what Steph does. It’s to the point that we expect everything to go in.” Curry is up to 276 3-pointers on the season, 10 short of tying the NBA record he set last season.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (41-17): Oklahoma City allowed Cleveland and New Orleans to shoot better than 51 percent from the floor in each of the last two losses. “It’s just our defense and the numbers we gave up on that end of the floor,” Thunder head coach Billy Donovan told reporters after Thursday’s setback. “They got some points off turnovers, but even besides that, it’s the shooting percentage. It was the deep paint shots, it was the 3-point line, it was everything really.” Oklahoma City will need to find a way to defend the 3-point line against Curry and the Warriors after allowing the Pelicans to go 12-of-20 from beyond the arc.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder G Randy Foye is averaging four points in 17.7 minutes off the bench in three games since joining the team at the trade deadline.
2. The Warriors matched their franchise record for road wins at 28, set last season, with Thursday’s triumph.
3. Golden State has taken four of the last five in the series, including a 116-108 home win on Feb. 6.