Warriors rout Hawks 114- 95 in rematch of NBA’s top two
Warriors flatten Hawks in battle between NBA’s best teams
OAKLAND — The Warriors trounced Atlanta in a battle between the top teams in the West and East that ultimately became one- sided.
Put to the test against the best, the Warriors ran away with a 114- 95 win Wednesday that showed a national audience generally what happens to opponents who come to Oracle Arena.
The Warriors smash those who enter their house, and the Hawks were treated no differently despite their status atop the Eastern Conference standings as Golden State improved to 31- 2 at home and 54- 13 overall.
Never mind that Klay Thompson missed the game
due to a sprained right ankle, as the Warriors saw others step forward to avenge a loss at Atlanta last month.
Harrison Barnes led the Warriors with a seasonhigh 25 points while Draymond Green stepped into a Splash Brother role, going 5 for 7 from beyond the arc on his way to scoring 18 points. Andre Iguodala also notched a season high with 21 points, many of which came on emphatic dunks.
“We obviously wanted to beat them tonight because they gave us a whupping in Atlanta,” said Stephen Curry, who scored 16 points and dished out 12 of the Warriors’ season- high 39 assists.
“This obviously left a good impression, but every game for the rest of the season is going to be like this playoff atmosphere.”
DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap scored 16 points apiece, but Hawks center Al Horford was held to eight points on 4- for- 18 shooting.
While the 53- 15 Hawks were missing shots and shooting 35.6 percent from the field, the Warriors were the ones doing the preening.
“I think the hype of the game was really more outside of us,” Iguodala said.
Rejuvenated in recent weeks, Iguodala soared for a slam dunk off a pass in transition from Shaun Livingston to cap an 8- 0 run that gave the Warriors a 4233 lead.
Curry pushed the lead to 10 after completing a 4point play, with the Warriors again getting out on a fast break led by Green.
Green nailed his third 3pointer to give the Warriors a 59- 47 halftime lead.
The lead grew to 13 points after Curry flipped a behind- the- back pass to Leandro Barbosa for a 3pointer. After Atlanta called timeout, Curry stared down the Hawks’ Dennis Schroder, who he said had given him a little elbow.
Curry had been subjected to double teams throughout the game, but continuously found other options even with Thompson missing.
The Warriors committed eight of their 18 turnovers in the first quarter, but settled as their defense began to wear down the Hawks.
Atlanta, missing injured All- Star guard Kyle Korver, found little space to operate without the league’s 3- point accuracy leader.
Former Warriors guard Kent Bazemore, starting in place of Korver, could only watch as Iguodala put the exclamation point on the game. Iguodala swiped the ball from Bazemore at the 3- point line and raced to the other end for yet another dunk to make it 90- 66.
“When he creates turnovers and then gets out and runs in transition, he’s lethal,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“Obviously Harrison was sort of the offensive star tonight, but Andre was just spectacular at both ends.”
The Warriors, who have won eight of their past nine games, led by as many as 29 points.
Barnes finished 11 for 13 from the field, and Iguodala was 9 for 12. The Warriors shot 52.4 percent from the field and were 14 for 30 from 3- point range.
Thompson said before n the game his sprained ankle was already feeling “a ton better.”
He said he was able to do a little jogging and was walking fine after having limped his way out of the locker room following Monday’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Justin Holiday had five points and five assists starting in place of Thompson.
“I’d rather be healthy and at my healthiest in a week and playing at 100 percent again,” Thompson said.
The All- Star will be reevaluated next week, according to the Warriors.
“We’ll be cautious, but we also don’t want to be too cautious,” Kerr said. “We don’t want to hold him out just for the sake of holding him out. When he’s ready to play, he’ll play.”