Golden State Warriors overcome sleepy start with second-half explosion vs Magic

The Golden State Warriors were asleep in the first half and then pulled it together with a 42-point third quarter against the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Golden State Warriors looked a tad bit tired against the Orlando Magic early on Sunday. With a noon game being a 9:00 a.m. game internally for the Warriors, they slogged through the first half of the game as they tried to hit their stride.

The first quarter actually looked like it was going to be the opposite as Golden State tried to push the pace early. Stephen Curry was hot from beyond the arc and it didn’t look like the Warriors needed any rest at all.

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That outlook changed quickly in the second quarter. The Magic got going behind the hot hand of Elfrid Payton, who was aggressive driving to the hoop. The offense began to stall for the Warriors, notably with Kevin Durant. Durant struggled to find much a rhythm for most of the day and you could tell the early start was affecting him.

The two teams went into the half tied at 50 and it was clear the Warriors needed to wake up. Whatever Steve Kerr had to say at the half must have worked because Golden State suddenly exploded like what people have been accustomed to seeing them do in these situations.

That’s when the test of an early star was passed in the third quarter. With 7-9 shooting from three on Sunday, Curry created an offensive explosion that led to 42 points in the third quarter. The Magic meanwhile just did not have the offensive production to keep up from there.

Where the Magic tried to defeat Golden State on Sunday, the Warriors excelled. Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo were matched by Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee. The Warriors’ centers were key to this victory and continued to show a new side of the team that is emerging.

McGee was a plus-26 off the bench with 13 points while Pachulia had 14 of his own. The Warriors won the rebounding battle by a wide margin of 52-41 over Orlando and taking away second-chance opportunities made a sputtering offense for Orlando suffer even more.

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While Durant struggled mightily, Curry played like his MVP self and Klay Thompson pumped in 21 points on seven threes of his own. Draymond Green had his usual stat line and it was another win the Warriors can hang their hat on for beating a team using size in the middle.

Proving they can win in a variety of ways is key for the Warriors right now. Everyone knows what the superstars are going to do, but getting 27 points out of the center position is going to make Golden State near impossible to beat.