Thompson Pleased With Warriors

After losing their second game of the season, the Golden State Warriors have been looking for answers without Steph Curry.

Butler scored 23 of his 28 points after halftime, hit the game-tying layup with 25.9 seconds left in regulation and blocked Paul George’s layup at the overtime buzzer. The Warriors played without Stephen Curry due to sore leg.

Curry could sit out for the second straight contest with a lower left leg bruise when Golden State visits the Houston Rockets on Thursday in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference final.

“When we lost (to the Celtics) in 2008, that was the turn for me”, Bryant said. “He deserves to go to the All-Star Game this year, and he’s one of the best players in the league”. Thompson gets his 4th foul with 7 minutes left in the third and with Curry sitting that could make a difference later in the game. But the Warriors (29-2) still have the best 31-game start in National Basketball Association history, a game better than four teams.

And the Warriors clearly felt his absence, as even Dallas guard Devin Harris noted.

“The attention that he brings in shot-making and the way the offence flows with him out there, obviously was a little bit different tonight”.

Bogut also made a sizable contribution with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Pelicans got 17 points from Ryan Anderson, 15 from Norris Cole and 14 points and 15 rebounds from Anthony Davis. The Warriors deserve credit for exploiting these known problems, but there is still no convincing excuse for why the Rockets look distracted and unenthused several times per week. It was Golden State’s biggest loss since a 31-point defeat to Houston two seasons ago.

The Warriors added four layups before the quarter came to a close, and the Rockets needed a 3-pointer from reserve guard Marcus Thornton to slice the deficit to 33-30 entering the second period. They were unbeaten for so long that teams had no idea how to beat them, until the Bucks stood up and delivered their first loss to Golden State a few weeks ago.

But the player who set a nasty physical tone for the Mavs was center Zaza Pachulia, who brought his lunch pail to work again and produced his 17 double-double of the season.

CJ McCollum had 27 points and Allen Crabbe 20 as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 110-103 for a third straight win, while Nerlens Noel scored 20 to lead six Philadelphia 76ers in double figures as they beat the Sacramento Kings 110-105 on the road for only their third win of the season.

The Warriors showed signs of life in the first quarter and played with an offensive flow that wasn’t present yesterday in Dallas.

“He did more today than he did yesterday, so that’s progress”, interim head coach Luke Walton said before Thursday’s game.

“If it is, it was a lot of fun”, said Walton, who won without Curry, Festus Ezeli, Harrison Barnes and Leandro Barbosa available to play.