Warriors at Hornets
The Golden State Warriors haven't dropped back-to-back regular-season games since April 2015 and will put that streak on the line when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. The Warriors, who are playing the finale of a four-game road trip on Wednesday, had their latest winning streak end at seven straight in a 105-102 setback at Miami on Monday.
Golden State waited too long to get back into the game after falling behind against the Heat and fell when Dion Waiters drained a go-ahead 3-pointer over Klay Thompson from the top of the key with 0.6 seconds remaining. "It wasn't good defense," Thompson told reporters. "I've got to press up on him. Make him go around me. Use my length, and I made a big mistake. Cost us. Learn from it. And if we see them again, we'll do that." The Hornets need to find a way to turn up the pressure on defense against the Warriors, who lead the league in scoring (117.6 points) and field-goal percentage (49.9), after allowing the Washington Wizards to shoot 53.8 percent from the floor in a 110-99 loss on Monday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak and crushed any hope of Charlotte sweeping a five-game homestand and taking the momentum into a stretch of four of five on the road, which includes a stop at Golden State on Feb. 1.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (38-7): The trip to North Carolina is always a busy one for two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who grew up in the area and will have his number retired at Charlotte Christian High on Tuesday before the student section at Davidson is named in his honor. Curry, who likes to put on a show in his hometown and scored 40 points on 14-of-18 shooting in Charlotte last season, was not overly concerned about Monday's setback. "It’s a tough loss, but it doesn’t affect the big picture of what we are trying to do," Curry told reporters. "We are showing a lot of bright spots, and we have to continue to improve."
ABOUT THE HORNETS (23-22): Charlotte built its three-game winning streak starting the homestand on strong defense, including holding the Toronto Raptors to 78 points, but surrendered 60 points in the first half alone on Monday. The Hornets had a tough time on the other end of the floor as well with Nicolas Batum struggling. The veteran guard averaged 15.3 points during the three-game winning streak but slumped to four points on 2-of-9 shooting in 38 minutes on Monday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SF Kevin Durant is 4-of-18 from 3-point range in the last two games.
2. Hornets PG Brian Roberts (illness) and SG Jeremy Lamb (foot) are both questionable.
3. Golden State took the last four in the series, including the most recent two in Charlotte.