Warriors ignore sores, defy Magic
LOS ANGELES – The NBA champion Golden State Warriors produced a dynamic offensive display Friday in a 133-112 wireto-wire NBA victory over the Orlando Magic in Florida.
The banged-up Warriors, with Stephen Curry still nursing a painful bruised finger, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson battling troublesome ankles and David West suffering from a sore left knee, nevertheless proved more than a match for the Magic.
Coming off a lethargic-looking overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, the Warriors answered the call of coach Steve Kerr to play with energy and purpose.
The result was a 78-63 point Warriors lead at halftime – Golden State’s highestscoring half this season.
Their 46 assists were the most in the NBA this season and one shy of the franchise record.
“This is a good step in the right direction,” Kerr said.
Thompson led the way with 27 points. Durant connected on 10 of his 14 shots en route to 25 points before he was ejected for swearing at a referee over a foul call on his final basket. Durant was clearly miffed at being tossed. not feeling “The good refs run today, the they game, can so just if they’re make any decision they want,” Durant said. “So I’ve got to know that they’ve got all the power and I’ve got to just shut up and take it.” Curry, again playing with his right ring finger as bandaged, the Warriors had seized 23 points control and 10 early assists and thwarted every Magic effort to rally. “The way we played tonight was Warriors-like basketball,” Curry said. “We wanted to get back to that and not get bogged down and stagnate on offense. Everybody was involved.” In other games, it was San Antonio over Memphis, 95-79; Oklahoma over Minnesota, 111-107; Washington over Detroit, 109-91; Utah over New Orleans, 114-108; Sacramento over Chicago, 107-106. (AFP)