OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – With dad Dell watching live Wednesday night, Stephen Curry hit 11 3-pointers and scored 39 points in three quarters, coming back with vengeance from a one-game absence while ill and leading the Golden State Warriors to a 126-111 blowout of his hometown Charlotte Hornets.
Klay Thompson added 29 points, matched his career high with eight assists and Kevin Durant had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the NBA-leading Warriors (42-7).
Curry recorded his fifth career game with at least 11 3s, shot 14 for 20 and 11 of 15 from long range and dished out eight assists facing Charlotte for the second time in exactly a week.
The two-time reigning NBA MVP was sick – his shooting, that is. He sat out Sunday night at Portland with the stomach flu. Nothing slowed him down this night, and he even hit one third-quarter 3 while falling into the front row of fans.
Already having set the single-game record with 13 on Nov. 7 against New Orleans, Curry rested in the fourth. He has 20 3s in his past two games and Golden State wound up with 21 3s in all Wednesday.
Frank Kaminsky scored 24 points off the bench for the Hornets, who lost their sixth in a row overall and ninth straight on the road.
Curry hit six first-quarter 3s and Golden State matched a franchise record with nine 3s in a quarter, doing so for the sixth time. The Warriors led 41-21 after the first, their NBA-leading 14th 40-point quarter.
The Warriors reached 70 points by halftime for the seventh time, up 77-56 at the break.
Late in the first half, Durant covered his mouth with his hand in pure awe when Curry connected from downtown. That was after Curry’s 1,788th career regular-season 3, which moved him past Rashard Lewis into 12th on the NBA career list.
In the waning seconds before halftime, two defenders swarmed Curry out near half-court in an effort to keep the ball out of his hands.
JaVale McGee scored nine points and had a season-best four blocks starting in place of injured center Zaza Pachulia, who will miss at least a week with a strained right rotator cuff.
Curry had 12 points by the 6:41 mark of the first with the Warriors knocking down seven of their first eight from long range to go ahead 23-9.
TIP-INS
Hornets: F/C Cody Zeller missed his fifth straight game with a bruised right quadriceps that he hurt taking a knee to the leg Jan. 23 against the Wizards. “He’s doing better,” coach Steve Clifford said. “It’s a big muscle.” … The Hornets lost their sixth straight to Golden State and eighth in 10. Charlotte last won on the Warriors’ home floor on Feb. 4, 2014.
Warriors: Damian Jones made his Oracle Arena debut and scored his first career NBA points. … Golden State is 8-0 against the Eastern Conference this season at Oracle. … Pachulia underwent an MRI exam Tuesday and expressed his relief a day later that the injury wasn’t more serious. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated after a week. … Big man David West was scheduled to have a follow-up X-ray on a non-displaced fracture of his left thumb suffered Jan. 18 against Oklahoma City. … McGee made his third start of the season. … Coach Steve Kerr was Western Conference Coach of the Month – his fifth such honor – for January after Golden State went an NBA-best 12-2.
UP NEXT
Hornets: At Utah on Saturday.
Warriors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday in a second straight back-to-back set. L.A. lost 144-98 at Oracle on Saturday.