Curry takes blow to shin, survives scare in Warriors triumph

Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr., right, shoots over Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The three-game winning streak comes to an end in disastrous fashion for the purple and gold. The Warriors, though, made up for it by converting 52 percent of their shots from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point range. The Warriors went on a 14-2 run, capped off by a Thompson three.

Klay Thompson scored 36 points while Curry in three quarters had 17 in the blowout. Harrison Barnes scored eight points in the fourth quarter while Marreese Speights chipped in another four, providing more than enough firepower to seal the win.

“It kind of demoralizes the other team when you just keep getting open look after open look, and I just got hot tonight”, Thompson said. Klay Thompson has had to carry the backcourt in Curry’s brief absence, and he is more than capable of doing so. But that was it. They couldn’t maintain any intensity and the Warriors led by 15 by halftime.

“Mo was great for us”, Walton said. That allowed them to somewhat stay within striking distance, as the Warriors only outscored the Lakers by three in the second quarter. “It was thinking too much about missed shots, and we didn’t get back on defense”. “They are one of those teams that come out in the third quarter and put you away”.

The Lakers were in this game for a spell.

Notes: Kobe Bryant sat out his third straight game with a sore shoulder.

Williams took an inbounds pass from Devin Harris with 2.3 seconds left, pump faked to get Rudy Gay to fly by him in the left corner and the ball went in after the buzzer sounded.

Without Bryant or Russell available, Scott had to juggle his lineups.

Roy Hibbert was a -31, but Marcelo Huertas was a +13. World Peace got a technical foul in the third quarter after a brief exchange with Green. Ryan Kelly added 10 points off the bench in garbage time. Julius Randle scored two points but had nine rebounds in 20 minutes.

While Livingston is fully capable of orchestrating the offense and posting up smaller guards for easy buckets on the blocks, Golden State needs Curry at full strength if it’s going to resemble the wrecking crew that has so far this season dominated the Association.

“I thought we competed 30 out of the 48 minutes. We just have to be better”.

And then there’s Thompson, who, while trying to play through a lower back injury at the start of the season, struggled to perform at the All-Star level that everyone knows he’s capable.

The six year veteran has called the injury “frustrating and annoying” but it is clearly something he can play through as he has done well when he has been on the court recently.