Chef Curry Dishes Out 30 Points As Warriors Down Hawks
4th December 2018
Curry was playing in just his second game after missing 11 contests with a groin injury
- Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined for 85 points as the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors used a balanced offence to roll over the Atlanta Hawks 128-111 on Monday
- Curry finished with 30 points, Durant -- who carried the club though Curry's absence -- finished with 28, and Thompson delivered 27
- Curry got things rolling with 18 points in the first quarter as he single-handedly outscored the Hawks, who managed just 17 points in the opening 12 minutes
LOS ANGELES, United
States- Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined for 85
points as the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors used a balanced
offence to roll over the Atlanta Hawks 128-111 on Monday.
Curry was playing in just his second game after missing 11
contests with a groin injury. That meant that in order to keep all their big
guns happy, the Warriors needed to spread the offence around.
Curry finished with 30 points, Durant -- who carried the
club though Curry's absence -- finished with 28, and Thompson delivered 27 as
Golden State improved to 31-3 when dynamic trio all have 20 points.
"I think he's now back in the groove," coach Steve
Kerr said of Curry. "He looked great handling the ball."
The Warriors snapped a six-game losing streak on the road
and won for just the fourth time in their last 10.
Curry got things rolling with 18 points in the first quarter
as he single-handedly outscored the Hawks, who managed just 17 points in the
opening 12 minutes.
Curry nailed his first six shots, four of them beyond the
arc. He finished six of 10 from three-point range.
Seven turnovers
The Warriors led 61-47 at halftime and stretched the margin
as high as 24 points.
"Our defense set the tone," Curry said.
"Everybody gets to touch the ball."
John Collins led Atlanta with 24 points, and Trae
Young added 20 as the Hawks lost their third consecutive game.
Hawks first round draft pick Young continued to struggle.
The young guard had seven turnovers and missed all five of his three-point
attempts.
Coming into the game, Young was averaging 15.6 points, which
is good for third place among all rookies -- but he's been mired in a shooting
slump of late.
"They're picking me up full court," Young said.
"They're not going to just sag off and let me have open threes. I've got
to find a way to knock them down. I will."
Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic drained three clutch free throws in
the final seven seconds and the Denver Nuggets upset the Toronto Raptors
106-103.
Jokic had 23 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, Jamal
Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets who won their sixth straight and halted
Toronto's winning streak at eight.