The Charlotte Hornets guard Vasilije Micic (left) passes the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in the first half at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Fri Feb 23, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
The Golden State Warriors (29-26) welcomed the Charlotte Hornets (14-42) to the Chase Center Friday night. The Hornets entered the game with a record of 14-41. Yet, the Hornets had won four straight. Charlotte’s star point guard, LaMelo Ball, was sidelined with an injury and would not play.
Everyone thought the Warriors would win in a cakewalk. The Hornets, coached by Steve Clifford, had other thoughts. The players knew they had to find a way to disrupt the Warriors’ game plan. Both teams played poorly in the first half.
The Warriors scored just 43 points in the first 24 minutes of play. The Warriors turned the ball over 14 times. The Warriors defense put the clamps on the Hornet offense. Charlotte tallied 29 points in the half. The Warriors got the offense going in the third quarter and held on to win, 97-84.
As mentioned above, the first two-quarters of the game were ugly. Neither team could get into a rhythm. The leading scorer for the Warriors was Gary Payton II. GP2 had eight points to lead the team. Stephen Curry had seven, and Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga each had six. Miles Bridges had ten for the Hornets in the first half.
The Warriors offense came to life in the third quarter. They won the quarter30-23 and finished the period with the lead, 73-52. The Warriors led by 20, 80-60 after Thompson hit a three. The Warriors refused to let the Hornets get too close.
Curry hit a three to put the Warriors up 89-71. Head coach Steve Kerr took his regulars out of the game. The Hornets offense closed the gap to ten, 92-82. The time left in the game was a minute and 42 seconds. There was a remote possibility that the Hornets could make up the ten-point deficit.
That didn’t happen, as Moses Moody made a three with 1:05 left. Lester Quinones set off tempers when he made a basket with 12 seconds left. The Hornets’ Miles Bridges and Grant Williams were furious that Quinones took the shot.
The Warriors were going to win. The unwritten rule was to run out the clock. Quinones was hit with two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. Bridges and Williams each had a technical foul called on them. Williams was ejected. There was no scoring in the final few seconds of the game after the altercation.
Game Notes: It was an ugly win, but it is still a win. The Warriors improved to 29-26. Golden State has won ten of the last 12 games played. The Hornets fell to 14-42.
The Warriors had five players in double figures. Curry led the club with 15 points. Curry made three threes in eight tries. Wiggins had 14, Thompson and Brandin Podziemski each had 13, and Payton II added 12. The Warriors shot 42% from the floor and made 13 threes.
The Hornets also had five players with double-figures. Bridges led Charlotte with 19 points and 11 boards. Nick Richards and Brandon Miller each had 11. Tre Mann and Grant Williams had ten.
Kerr signed a two year extension worth $35 million, the contract is listed as a record annual value for a head coach. Kerr is in his tenth year with Golden State as his current contract expires at the end of this season. Kerr is breathing some relief as he was focused on this season but now that the contract issues have been completed he can focus on coaching and not on his future with the team.
The Warriors finish the homestand against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at 4 pm.










