Warriors’ starters edge out Magic

The difference between yesterday and today for the Golden State Warriors was night and day, literally and figuratively. On Monday night, the Warriors didn’t take a struggling Magic team for granted and came out with a renewed passion and energy at the Oracle Arena, as the team coasted past Orlando for their 56th win of the season.

On Sunday, the Warriors couldn’t get their shots to fall at all on Los Angeles, but they were falling early on Monday night. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were both getting in the zone early, as the Warriors set the pace offensively. Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green were making nice passes and Brandon Rush came up huge off the bench.

If there was any downside to the Warriors’ play in the first half, it was that the bench seemed like it was feeling things out when they were on the court together as a unit. Most of this can be attributed to not having Andre Iguodala, but it was clear that they were lacking that individual to take charge.

Toward the end of the first half, the Warriors finished strong and built up a double-digit lead. Stephen Curry came within inches of landing a half-court shot at the buzzer, which brought the excitement out of the crowd.

It looked like the Warriors were finally going to pull away from the Magic at the start of the third quarter, but just when the Warriors were finally finding their footing, the Magic reeled them back in and got the lead under double digits. However, toward the end of the third quarter, the Warriors put their foot back on the pedal and increased their lead to double digits again. A special moment occurred at the end of the third quarter, when Stephen Curry made his 300th three-point field goal of the season.

The Magic would open the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run and Steve Kerr would immediately want a timeout on the court. Once again, the bench was struggling to hold the lead. Aaron Gordon was a monster on the boards for Orlando and really made things difficult inside.

The Magic would get the lead under double digits and would make things very interesting. The Warriors seemed to be coasting and not interesting in putting the Magic away for good. The energy was there, but the killer instinct was not. Brandon Jennings would have a big night off the bench to keep the Magic in it.

However, after Kerr went back to his starters, Stephen Curry would hit some huge threes late and Klay Thompson would drill a three off of a broken play to lift the Warriors to their 56th win of the season and their 45th straight home win to set an NBA record for most consecutive home wins.

Tale of the Tape

Warriors

• Field-goal percentage: 50.0% (42-84)
• Three-point percentage: 45.7% (16-35)
• Rebounds: 50
• Assists: 27
• Turnovers: 24

Magic

• Field-goal percentage: 44.4% (40-90)
• Three-point percentage: 23.8% (5-21)
• Rebounds: 42
• Assists: 24
• Turnovers: 15

Good to Know

What’s on Tap?

The Warriors host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.