Mo Speights scored a game-high 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter as the Warriors beat the Hornets 106-101 for their eighth consecutive victory.
GAME LEADERS
It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. The Warriors fought their way back from 10 points down to get their eighth-straight win in a 106-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Marreese Speights scored the first 16 points of the fourth quarter for the Dubs (outscoring Charlotte 16-8 by himself over that span) to retake the lead with just under five minutes remaining. He had a game-high 27 points, his third 20-point game of the year after having just two such games last season. Stephen Curry notched 12 points in that fourth quarter on his way to 26 points for the game, along with six assists and four rebounds.
The Warriors may lead the league in team field goal percentage, but they couldn’t take the lid off the basket for the first three quarters. After taking a 28-24 lead into the second quarter, Golden State couldn’t buy a bucket as the Hornets went on a 15-2 run over a four minute span to go up nine. Charlotte would head into halftime up 55-49 while outshooting the Warriors 49 percent to 40 percent from the field. The Dubs didn’t have an answer for Hornets guard Brian Roberts, who scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half.
The Hornets achieved their largest lead of 10 points with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter. While their defense was keeping the game from getting out of hand, the Warriors still could not get their shots to fall with any consistency, even when relying on two of the best shooters in the game. The third quarter would conclude with the Hornets leading 80-74, as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were a combined 12-of-37 from the field up to that point.