Can’t keep a great one down
SAN FRANCISCO—Stephen Curry roared back from a rough first half to score 18 of his 26 points after intermission, Jimmy Butler had 21 points and the Golden State Warriors ran away from the Orlando Magic in the second half for a 120-97 win on Monday night, which saw Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr have an altercation.
Curry played on a tender left ankle and missed his initial six three-point tries—beginning 3-for-13 from the floor—before finally connecting from deep with 8:20 left in the third quarter to pull the Warriors within 71-69. That was all it took to get Golden State rolling on a 14-4 run.
The two-time MVP shot 10-for-23 overall, making 4-of-13 triples. He had six assists and two of his team’s eight steals.
Paolo Banchero had 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Desmond Bane scored 20 points for Orlando in the first night of a road back-to-back.
Moses Moody scored 20 points for the Warriors, while Brandin Podziemski came off the bench to finish with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds. Draymond Green contributed nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes a game after being ejected early in the second quarter on Saturday against Phoenix.
Golden State guard Buddy Hield had his streak of 199 straight regular-season games played snapped in Saturday’s 119-116 win over the Suns, but hit a late three-pointer Monday. Jonathan Kuminga didn’t play again after missing the last game with an illness.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr hopes to have center Al Horford back on Thursday from a seven-game absence because of right sciatic nerve irritation.
But before all that, Green had a heated exchange with Kerr in the huddle during a third-quarter timeout on Monday night and then went to the locker room on his own to cool down.
Kerr said even once Green returned to the bench for the finish of the win against the Magic, he wasn’t going to play again after what happened.
“We got into it obviously and I took the timeout just because I thought we lost our focus there a little bit,” Kerr said. “We had it out a little bit and he made his decision to go back to the locker room to cool off and that’s all I’m going to say about it. Everything is private. I’ve got nothing further to add.”
Green got ejected early in the second quarter on Saturday against Phoenix for consecutive technicals.
“Tempers spilled over and I just thought it was best that I get out of there,” Green said. “I don’t think there was a situation where it was going to get better so it was just best to remove myself. That’s it.”
Underachieving record
Green said he was available to play again, but it wasn’t his decision—and he had stiffened up by then, too.
“I thought I owed it to my teammates to be there. I’m not going to quit on my teammates,” he said.
Golden State’s 15-15 record is hardly what this group expects at this stage, and Green noted “that’s probably why tempers are flaring.”
“Basketball, it’s what we do,” he said of what caused the frustration. “We play basketball, it’s an emotional game. People lose their emotions sometimes, it happens.”
He said of leaving for the locker room, “I just thought that was best for me” and afterward he felt a responsibility to speak with the media “for sure.” Assistant coach Anthony Vereen accompanied Green.
Curry said his observation was Kerr and Green “just having a good conversation.”
“That’s kind of for them to talk about, not me,” the star guard said.
Curry said there were positive, winning vibes in the locker room after a nice win and “I’m pretty sure we know how to be professional.”
Podziemski said Green “was a great teammate on the bench” after coming back.
“It’ll get figured out,” Podziemski said.
Asked if he thinks the issue will linger, Kerr said: “No.”
“The group’s ready to go, you could see in the game tonight,” he explained. “We need Draymond. He’s a champion. We’ve been together for a long time. All we can do is the rest of the group keep pushing, keep getting better. I thought this was one of our better games. I thought the first half was brilliant—we just didn’t make shots. I thought Draymond played great.”
