By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
OAKLAND — Western Conference Player of the Month for November Stephen Curry continued his steady play into December, scoring 19 points and handing out a season-high 11 assists leading the Golden State Warriors to their 11th consecutive victory with a 112-85 win over the New Orleans Pelicans Thursday night in front of 19,596 fans at Oracle Arena.
“We are off to a great start,” Curry said. “We have a laser focus and we never get too head of ourselves.”
Golden State’s 11-game win streak matches their longest in franchise history, dating back to the 1971-72 season. Their NBA-best 16-2 mark this season is also their best start in the team history, while improving to 7-1 at home.
After starting 1-of-8 shooting, Klay Thompson finished with 23 points on 8-of-16 from the floor.
Harrison Barnes added 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Draymond Green had 14 points and matched his career-high with 14 rebounds.
Marreese Speights continues to provide scoring off the bench for the Warriors, finishing with 12 points. In his last five games, Speights is averaging 14.6 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, and shooting 42 percent from the field.
Golden State destroyed New Orleans in points in the paint (62-48), rebounds (56-47), and held the Pelicans to just 41.6 percent shooting from the floor (3-0f-15 from 3-point range).
After trailing 30-22 early in the second quarter, Golden State went on a 20-4 run to close out the first half. Golden State led as much as 22 points over a New Orleans team that couldn’t get it going tonight after coming off a 112-104 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night.
Anthony Davis scored 30 points and 15 rebounds, Jrue Holiday finished with 12 points and eight assists, and Tyreke Evans chipped in 11 points for New Orleans, who fall to 8-9 this season.
Omer Asik finished with nine points, and 15 rebounds for the Pelicans, who also committed 17 turnovers compared to nine by the Warriors.
Golden State looks to set a new franchise mark Saturday when the team heads to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls.
Extra dribbles:
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he hoped power forward David Lee (hamstring strain) would return to action next week while ruling Lee out for the Bulls game.
- Warriors guard Justin Holiday got into the game for the final two minutes and had a dunk, marking the first time he played in a game with his brother, Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday, on the opposing team.
- Sarunas Marciulionis bobbleheads did not arrive at Oracle Arena in time for them to be distributed because of labor issues at the Los Angeles and Long Beach waterfront, so fans were given vouchers instead for the giveaways to be shipped to their homes.
