It looked like the Warriors might get a real challenge at home against the Mavericks, then just like that, it was another blowout. Golden State rolled to its 40th consecutive win at home by beating Dallas, 127-107, on Wednesday night behind a huge performance from Klay Thompson.
NBA scores 2016: Klay Thompson scores 45 to lead Warriors to 40th straight home victory
The Warriors and Spurs keep winning at home, Rodney Hood is finding his groove and the rest of the action from Wednesday in the NBA.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Stephen Curry and Draymond Green didn't even need to put up big numbers in this game. Thompson did that on his own with a season-high 45 points on 14-of-20 shooting. You can never seem to stop all of Golden State's stars.
The Warriors have dominated at Oracle Arena for much of the past two seasons, including an unbeaten 22-0 record this season following the win. The team hasn’t lost a regular-season game at the arena in over a year. The games often aren’t close, either, with Golden State’s firepower and a passionate crowd creating one of the NBA’s toughest places to play in right now.
Dallas managed to hang tough after things could’ve gotten out of hand early. The Dubs jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter behind a barrage of baskets from Thompson. The Mavericks trimmed the deficit to three in the second quarter and six at halftime.
They would never tie the game. After a Chandler Parsons three-pointer cut Golden State's lead to 65-64 with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors pulled away for good. The team hit six three-pointers and scored 30 points over those final seven-plus minutes in the period to go up by 18 entering the fourth quarter.
The game was out of reach at that point. It was amazing to see how quickly the Warriors turned a competitive game into a rout. This is what they do, but it never ceases to be extraordinary. Golden State can just score points so quickly. Once they start getting into that groove, it can be dumbfounding how quickly the number rises on the scoreboard.
And this came in a game when Curry and Green were not at their best. Curry didn’t get his first field goal until the second quarter. Green didn’t get his first point until the third quarter. In the end, those two only combined for 24 points, 13 assists and five rebounds. We’ve seen Green alone have several games with bigger numbers this season.
But someone usually steps up for the Warriors and in this game it was Thompson. The shooting guard scored 40-plus for the second time this season and did it in remarkably efficient fashion. It’s scary to consider that he’s often the third option in an offense built around some of the game’s most unique talents. In this game, he settled into a groove as the top guy and carried the team to a win.
Winning takes a lot of different forms for the Warriors. In the end, the Ws keep coming, though.
3 other things we learned
Thunder win but defense remains porous
The Thunder survived with a 126-123 win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, but the score alone shows OKC's defense remains a major question mark. Just three days after a defensive meltdown allowed the Thunder to lose to the struggling Nets, the team once again needed a big offensive output to win.
Over the past three games, Oklahoma City has allowed over 120 points per game. One of those games went to overtime, but it’s clear defense is what separates the Thunder from the conference’s two powerhouses. San Antonio and Golden State are No. 1 and No. 2 in defensive rating this season. The Thunder are 12th and trending in the wrong direction. In January, OKC has allowed 103.5 points per 100 possessions, up from 100.5 through Dec. 31.
The Timberwolves are a below-average offensive team but didn't look the part in this game. The team shot 56 percent from the field. Zach LaVine shot 14-of-17 en route to 35 points off the bench. Gorgui Dieng, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for another 60 points on 26-of-42 shooting. This was just a bad defensive effort from a contender that needs to show more if it wants to get past the Western Conference Semifinals.
Rodney Hood is finding a groove
The breakout season for Hood took a while to build steam but the 6'8 swingman is quickly becoming one the Jazz's most dangerous offensive weapons. He scored a game-high 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting in Utah's 102-73 win over the Hornets on Wednesday, and has topped 20 points in three of his past four games.
Hood’s turned around a season that looked disappointing just a month ago. On New Year’s Day, Hood was shooting 40 percent overall and 30 percent from three on the season. In January, he’s improved those numbers to 45 percent and 47 percent while averaging 18.3 points per game. The improvement has fueled a plus-3.3 net rating for Utah in the month, per NBA.com, which is a good sign even if the wins aren’t coming yet.
The Jazz have had a challenging year with injuries taking away their chances to build chemistry with a chance at a breakout season. Having Hood start to crack into his potential in 2016 will go a long way toward putting the team back on track.
Spurs also stay unbeaten at home
On a night when Klay Thompson was carrying the Warriors at the Oracle, the Spurs had no trouble staying unbeaten at home. San Antonio crushed the Rockets, 130-99, in a game that quickly got out of hand. The Spurs wasted no time rebounding from their lopsided loss to Golden State two nights ago by scoring 35 points in the first quarter and leading by 20 at halftime.
Houston has been playing pretty well lately, too. The Rockets entered the night with three straight wins and nine victories in their past 12 games. But they allowed the Spurs to shoot 56 percent from the field while shooting 38 percent themselves, which is an almost impossible shooting advantage to overcome. LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points while Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard added 18 apiece.
Play of the night
Bonus points for Karl-Anthony Towns because the dunk came against Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook. Unfortunately his team lost, but it might be fun to watch OKC-Minnesota games for a while.
5 fun things
Scores
Celtics 111, Nuggets 103 (Celtics Blog recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
Pistons 110, 76ers 97 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Clippers 85, Hawks 83 (Clips Nation recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)
Spurs 130, Rockets 99 (Pounding The Rock recap | The Dream Shake recap)
Thunder 126, Timberwolves 123 (Welcome To Loud City recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Jazz 102, Hornets 73 (SLC Dunk recap | At The Hive recap)
Warriors 127, Mavericks 107 (Golden State of Mind recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)
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