Curry maintaining hot hand
Steve Kerr scratched his head when asked why Stephen Curry is shooting the ball so well at the start of his 10th NBA season.
“It’s ... um ... I don’t know,” Kerr said.
No question Golden State’s coach is getting a thrill watching No 30’s hot hand convert 52.9 percent from 3-point range through nine games.
Curry scored 37 with seven 3-pointers for his sixth 30-point game of the season and dished out nine assists as the Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 131-121 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight win.
“I’ve always said I want to continue to try to improve my shooting and get more efficient,” Curry said. “Obviously a good start, but we’ve got to sustain it and stick to the program.”
Kevin Durant added 24 points and eight assists and Draymond Green contributed 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for his first doubledouble of the season.
Green has 50 assists in the past five games and is a big reason the Warriors are passing so well this season. They finished with a season-high 39 assists.
“Probably the best player on the floor tonight,” Kerr said of Green. “We’re only as good as Draymond is on many nights.”
Anthony Davis returned from a two-game absence with a sprained right elbow and shot just 6 of 16 for 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Pelicans, who lost a fivegame Western Conference semifinal to Golden State last spring.
“I thought he was a little winded,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “They weren’t going to let him catch the ball and go oneon-one against anybody down there.”
Klay Thompson scored 18 points with one 3-pointer for the Warriors, two days after setting an NBA record with 14 3s and scoring 52 in a blowout road win over the Bulls.
Curry scored 16 points in the third quarter with four 3s. He wound up 12 for 20 and 7 of 11 from deep.
Two-time defending champion Golden State’s lone loss came in the third game of the season by two points at Denver on Oct 21.
Jrue Holiday had 28 points and nine assists while Nikola Mirotic added 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which has a quick turnaround playing at Portland on Thursday night. The Pelicans lost their third straight.