By Matthew T.F. Harrington
The Golden State Warriors made historic Sunday by losing by the largest deficit as a first place team against a last place team in the Los Angeles Lakers. Monday night the historic books opened up for the Warriors in a far less dubious fashion. The fact that the record bests the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the team the Warriors are trying to unseat as owning the best regular season record ever, doesn’t hurt much for the Warrior faithful.
After a 119-113 win over the Orlando Magic Monday night at Oracle Arena, no team in NBA history can say they’ve defended home court as well as the Dubs. Stephen Curry dropped 41 points on the Magic to give the home team its 45th consecutive win at home, a new NBA record. The streak extends to last season with Golden State (56-6) on a 26-game unbeaten stretch this season.
Curry picked up the most unusual double-double of his career, notching double-digit points and rebounds. The point guard, not known for his prowess underneath the basket, hauled in 13 rebounds to go with 14 of 24 shooting. Klay Thompson netted 27 points while Draymond Green was limited to a single free throw made and only 3 missed field goals. Andre Iguodala missed a second consecutive contest.
The Magic’s leading scorers Monday night were starters Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier as well as reserve Brandon Jennings. The trio netted 20 points apiece for struggling Orlando (27-35). Victor Olidipo put up 19 of his own. Gordon led the team with 16 rebounds for a double-double.
The Warriors struggled early in the 1st quarter, but wrapped the opening period up 31-18 then held a 59-46 edge at the half. Golden State outscored the Magic 35-31 in the 3rd to lead 94-77, but Orlando managed to claw the lead down to just two points at 111-109 with 1:13 left in the game. Despite outscoring the Warriors 36-25 in the 4th, the Magic would be outpaced 8-4 over the final minute plus to miss their chance to knock the Warriors off.
First place Golden State will get a crack at extending the streak Wednesday when the Dubs welcome the Utah Jazz to town.
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