The Golden State Warriors defeated the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night, 110-105, to raise their season record to 17-18. The Warriors continued to put on strong performances in front of Chase Center spectators despite Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins’ extended absences.
With 20 points at the break, Klay Thompson powered the Warriors to a 65-52 lead after the opening period. In the second quarter, Jordan Poole added 12 points but slowed down. Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Warriors, continued to trust his youthful players in the second unit, and it again paid off.
Just over midway through the third quarter, the Hornets decreased the margin of victory to single digits. Moses Moody, James Wiseman, and Jonathan Kuminga all contributed to righting the ship. Off an offensive rebound, Wiseman scored, assisted Klay with a three-pointer, and helped the Warriors regain an 11-point lead going into the fourth.
With almost nine minutes left in regulation, the Hornets closed the gap on the young Dubs to four points early in the fourth quarter. Kerr had anticipated that bringing Draymond Green back would help the Dubs, but Golden State kept losing. There were fewer than four minutes left when Charlotte knotted the score at 101.
The Hornets scored two free throws to trim the margin to four, but Poole drove in and found Kuminga for an easy slam, turning the game into a free-throw shooting contest that the Dubs ultimately won. The final three minutes of regulation were when Kuminga scored six of his 14 points.
At the end of the night, Thompson had a game-high 29 points on 10-for-22 field goal shooting. He added four assists and five rebounds as well. The only other Warrior with at least 15 points was Poole, who finished with 24. Adding 11 points and 9 rebounds, Kevon Looney. Green had 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists for the game.