Final
Magic-Warriors Preview
Mar 7, 2016 - 4:38 AM Raise your hand if you saw that one coming.After a shocking road loss to the Western Conference's worst team, the Golden State Warriors hope to rebound by breaking the NBA record for consecutive home wins Monday night against the Orlando Magic - who a suddenly cold Stephen Curry torched less than two weeks ago.
It wasn't just the result of Sunday's 112-95 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers that opened eyes, it was the way it unfolded for Golden State (55-6).
Curry and Klay Thompson made a combined 1 of 18 3-pointers, and the Warriors finished without a 20-point scorer for the first time since a Nov. 28 win over Sacramento - though six players scored in double figures in that game while Curry and Thompson were the only two this time around.
Curry finished with 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting, ending his five-game run of 30-point performances while missing nine of 10 3-pointers. Thompson had 15 on 7 of 20.
The Warriors' 4-for-30, 13.3-percent showing from long range was their worst since making 2 of 16 in a loss at Houston on Dec. 6, 2013. The NBA's top-scoring team shot 40.2 percent overall, committed 20 turnovers and allowed its sixth straight opponent to shoot better than 45 percent.
The result was the end of a seven-game win streak while a wrench was thrown in Golden State's quest to break Chicago's 1995-96 72-10 mark.
The Warriors can win their 45th straight home game on Monday, breaking the Bulls' record that ran from March 30, 1995-April 4, 1996.
''We got what we deserved,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''I joke with Steph all the time that this team is full of millennials, and millennials can't focus, so we looked like millennials today. ... But every team is going to have a tough time being locked in for 82 games. It's hard.''
Though the players largely echoed Kerr's sentiment about speed bumps in a long season - with Curry and Draymond Green each saying "it happens" - the Warriors did schedule a shootaround ahead of Monday's game, their first prior to the second game of a back-to-back.
Maybe to make sure another monumental upset isn't on the agenda.
Sunday's game was the first in NBA history in which a team with a winning percentage above .900 played a team below .200 after 60 games. Orlando (27-34) hasn't experienced woes like the Lakers' this season as a whole, but its 8-21 mark since Jan. 1 is one of the league's worst.
Another upset is far less likely at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors play 15 of their final 21 games.
The Magic are 10-18 away from home, and they will have to deal with Curry 11 days after he dropped 51 points on them in a 130-114 Golden State win - the Warriors' fifth straight in this series.
Curry made 20 of 27 shots and 10 of 15 3s to become the seventh player to hang 50 points on the Magic - and first since LeBron James went for 51 in February 2011.
Winning in Oakland seems like a tall task for the Magic after they supplied Phoenix with its first road win in nearly three months with Friday's ugly 102-84 loss. Orlando shot 34.7 percent against one of the NBA's worst defensive teams, and it sits four games back of Chicago and Detroit for the East's eighth playoff spot.
"It is very disappointing," coach Scott Skiles said. "It is a game we had to have.''
Victor Oladipo sat out with a lower-back contusion, but he is expected to return Monday.
Golden State is being cautious with Andre Iguodala (left hamstring tightness), and there is a chance he sits Monday for the third time in four games.
- ORLANDO: 113
GOLDEN STATE: 119
Final
Mar 8 12:57 AM - End of 4th Quarter.
Mar 8 12:57 AM - ORLANDO: 111
GOLDEN STATE: 119
4th Quarter - 0:10
Mar 8 12:57 AM - End of 3rd Quarter.
Mar 8 12:19 AM - ORLANDO: 77
GOLDEN STATE: 94
3rd Quarter - 0:04
Mar 8 12:19 AM - ORLANDO: 77
GOLDEN STATE: 94
3rd Quarter - 0:27
Mar 8 12:19 AM - End of 1st Half.
Mar 7 11:36 PM - ORLANDO: 46
GOLDEN STATE: 59
2nd Quarter - 0:02
Mar 7 11:35 PM - End of 1st Quarter.
Mar 7 11:04 PM - ORLANDO: 18
GOLDEN STATE: 31
1st Quarter - 0:05
Mar 7 11:03 PM - ORLANDO: 0
GOLDEN STATE: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Mar 7 10:41 PM - Jason Smith vs. Andrew Bogut (Stephen Curry gains possession)
Mar 7 10:41 PM - ORLANDO: 0
GOLDEN STATE: 0
Final
Mar 7 10:41 PM
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