The Golden State Warriors may not be able to beat or match their record breaking 73 win season but they are certainly still the alpha-dogs in the west. They currently lead the Western Conference with a 39-7 record and hold a 2.5 game lead over the second place Spurs. This does not come as a surprise though, as the Warriors have the last 2 recipients of the NBA's Most Valuable player award in Kevin Durant (2014) and Stephen Curry (2015, 2016).
These two would score more than half of Golden State's points in their recent match against the Charlotte Hornets that the Warriors would win 113-103. Durant would score 33 points, 16 points all in the fourth quarter while Curry tallied 28 points with their combined 22 of 43 shooting as per NBA.com. Their supporting cast also performed well as Klay Thompson had 19 points, Draymond Green had 13 points, and every other Warrior that stepped on the floor was able to score at least 2 points each.
This prevented Golden State losing a back-to-back game, a streak they have going for 132 games and something the team was well aware of. "It's big because you never want to get that negative energy in your locker room if you can avoid it. Every game is big, but there is just another level of intensity that you need to avoid a losing streak." This is what Steph Curry had to say about winning their game and avoiding a 2 game slide as per AP News.
The Hornets, who are in seventh place in the East, gave the Warriors a run for their money as they erased an early lead to enter the fourth quarter ahead, 80-75. However, in a report by ESPN, the MVPs would put on performances that solidify their status as Durant scored 16 fourth quarter points while Curry hit 2 three-pointers in the final three-minutes of play to seal their victory. The Warriors will have a few days of rest before they are set to face off against the Los Angeles Clippers.
