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Jefferson, Bobcats bury Warriors

Feb 5, 2014 - 6:51 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Al Jefferson led all scorers with 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and the Charlotte Bobcats crushed the Golden State Warriors 91-75 on Tuesday at Oracle Arena.

The Bobcats held the Warriors to a horrid .312 shooting percentage and led by as many as 22 in cruising to their 22nd victory of the season, already surpassing last year's win total.

They welcomed back Kemba Walker, who missed the previous seven games with an ankle injury and chipped in with seven points, seven assists and six boards.

"We let him dictate when he came in and out," Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford remarked of Walker's return to the lineup. "Obviously he makes a big difference with our team."

Gerald Henderson also filled the stat sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Charlotte, which went 4-3 with Walker out of the lineup.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson paced the Warriors with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Curry also had 11 assists, but the club posted its lowest output since putting up a season-low 74 points in a loss to San Antonio on Nov. 8.

"We're thinking a little bit too much," Golden State head coach Mark Jackson said of his team struggling to score. "With a young basketball team, at times, missed shots affect everything else."

Thompson opened the game's scoring with a 3-pointer, but the Warriors missed their next eight long-distance tries the rest of the half.

In addition to their defense shutting down Golden State's high-powered attack, the Bobcats had things going offensively, making half of their field goal attempts over the first two quarters. They jumped out to a 26-13 lead by ending the first frame on a 16-4 run and took a 51-39 cushion into the break.

Jefferson followed up his 13-point first half with 11 in the third to keep Charlotte comfortably ahead, and only a buzzer-beating 40-footer from Marreese Speights spoiled an otherwise one-sided quarter.

Speights' unlikely make got the crowd back into it and pulled the Warriors within 72-57. It was a 12-point game before Anthony Tolliver quieted the crowd with consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth, and the Bobcats dominated the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Charlotte upended the Warriors 115-111 on Dec. 9 and swept the two-game season series for the first time since the 2009-2010 campaign ... Golden State shot 4-of-20 from the perimeter ... Golden State's David Lee played through a sprained left shoulder and shot just 3-of-13 from the field for eight points.