Hot Curry leads Warriors past Suns

ORACLE ARENA — On a night where the Warriors gave away special texting gloves to their usually-rabid fans, it was Stephen Curry who had the hot hand.

Curry scored a game-high 29 points to lead a second half surge that ended in a 113-93 Warriors victory over the Phoenix Suns Saturday night, taking control of the game after a rough first half.

After Curry hit a running bank shot with just under 5:00 left in the 3rd to make the score 66-64, the Warriors led the rest of the game.  Curry hit two of his six 3’s of the night late in the third quarter, his seventh game this season with at least six 3’s.

David Lee talked after the game about how Curry stepped up in the third quarter:

Post-Game Audio: Warriors Forward David Lee

“He came back tonight and played the way Steph is capable of playing.  He really led us in that second half, not only making plays for himself but finding other guys.”

The Warriors — who are now an eye-popping 24-2 when they start the fourth quarter with a lead — dominated the rest of the game and filled the stat books with records left and right.

Golden State had a season high 34 assists and had four players dish out at least seven (Curry, Lee, Thompson, Jack), the first time in franchise history that four players have had at least seven assists in the same game.

The Warriors also poured in a season high 66 points in the paint against the Suns’ 44. Harrison Barnes tied his career high adding 21 points, and Andrew Bogut had his third straight game with three or more blocks.

Warriors Head Coach Jackson said with his two best players, Curry and Andrew Bogut, healthy and playing smart basketball, the sky is the limit:

Post-Game Audio: Warriors Head Coach Mark Jackson

“We are a different basketball team with those guys on the floor.  Offensively, defensively — it puts everybody in their proper rotational spot.  When you start the type of lineup that we start, we have every right to believe that we can win any ballgame we play in.”

The Warriors had high hopes for a big-time win facing the 16-31 Suns with both Curry and Bogut back on the starting lineup together.  But in the first half, the Warriors beat the Suns in all the wrong stat columns: Turnovers, fouls, and 3-point attempts, with less 3’s made than the Suns.

Golden State big man Bogut was not at all happy with his team’s performance in the first half:

Post-Game Audio: Warriors Center Andrew Bogut

“There wasn’t energy, to be honest.  I don’t think we came out with the intensity in the first half.  We were allowing offensive rebounds and second-chance points…We had a bad first half tonight, we’ve got to rectify that next game.”

Sloppy basketball was partially to blame, but Jackson said after the game that Phoenix played harder in the first half:

“We didn’t play our brand of basketball, but give them credit. … They fought, they scratched, they clawed, they made it tough in the first half.  We were disappointed with our first half, we got on our guys, we talked about the adjustments we had to make.”

Adjustments they made indeed.  Golden State went on a scoring rampage in the third quarter outscoring Phoenix 33-22 and then 32-19 in the final frame.

Post-Game Audio: Suns Interim Head Coach Lindsey Hunter

Saturday was Social Media Night at Oracle Arena. The night included Twitter contests, ways for fans to interact and get their tweets on the scoreboard, and all the Warriors wore shooting shirts that had their Twitter handles on the back.

Fans at the arena who “checked-in” to the Warriors’ home game on Facebook received access to a special postgame Q&A with Warriors guard Jarrett Jack.

After the game, Kent Bazemore and Bogut thanked their Twitter fans for making the night another amazing one at Oracle:

https://twitter.com/KentBazemore20/status/297984239704621056

https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/297965431099097088

The Warriors, now 30-17 overall, head out on a four-game, five-night road trip, and will face the Houston Rockets back at Oracle on Feb. 12.