A high-scoring game was inevitable. And Warriors’ road losses are becoming inevitable, too.
The Warriors played without Draymond Green, who served his one-game suspension after earning his 16th technical foul against the Clippers. The Atlanta Hawks have one of the league’s worst defensive ratings. Little resistance on either end resulted in a 127-119 Warriors loss at State Farm Arena on Friday.
With the loss, the Warriors lose their 10th straight road game and move to 36-35 overall.
Struggling from 3-point land, the Warriors had to bear down against a bigger Hawks team in the paint to keep pace offensively. By halftime, 44 of the Warriors’ 66 points came inside the paint and the team finished the game shooting 11 for 40 from 3.
Without Green, Andrew Wiggins (out indefinitely due to a family matter) and Gary Payton II (core injury), the Warriors struggled to make stops.
Kevon Looney carried the load, scoring a regular-season career high 18 points along with 16 rebounds.
Atlanta rode a few unexpected hot hands offensively to overcome an early Warriors’ 12-point lead. Center John Collins, who came into the game shooting 25% from 3, went 4 of 5 from behind the arc to help the Hawks to a five-point lead by the half. The Warriors now have a 1-18 record when their opponent scores at least 15 3-pointers as the home team. The Hawks hit 16 3-pointers, shooting 39% on the night.
Nursing a sore thumb on his non-shooting hand, Steph Curry couldn’t quite find his rhythm coming off a 50-point game in the Warriors’ loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday. The 35-year-old hit two 3-pointers in a mid-fourth quarter 10-4 run that got the Warriors down three with six minutes remaining. But Curry was pulled for a quick rest, the Warriors committed two costly turnovers and Atlanta hit a 3-pointer to extend their lead by six.
The Warriors came within one late in the fourth, but the clutch shooting didn’t come. Curry and Klay Thompson missed potential go-ahead 3-pointers and Curry turned the ball over with 50 seconds remaining to let Atlanta ice the game. Curry finished with 31 points, shooting 4 of 13 from 3. Thompson had 15 points with 11 rebounds.
Golden State will have little time to process a frustrating loss as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday in Memphis with Green returning.
