ATLANTA _ The Warriors coasted to a 128-111 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday primarily for a simple reason. Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all played at their best.
Curry finished with 30 points while shooting 10-of-17 from the field, 6-of-10 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Durant had 28 points while shooting 10-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from 3-point range. And Thompson added 27 points while shooting 10-of-20 from the field and 3-of-5 from the perimeter.
In related news, the Warriors recorded 31 assists by exhibiting the ball movement Warriors coach Steve Kerr often preaches. The Warriors last posted 30 assists on Nov. 8 against Milwaukee. Incidentally, that is when Curry injured his left groin and subsequently missed 11 games.
Plenty of the attention initially centered on Curry after showing rustiness in his return on Saturday in Detroit. Then, Curry opened the first half going 2-of-9 from the field and missing his first five 3-point attempts.
On Monday, Curry essentially squeezed an open shooting workout in between games in Detroit on Saturday and in Cleveland on Wednesday. Curry made his first 3-pointer within the first four minutes. Curry did not miss a shot until a 26-foot jumper rimmed out as the Warriors nursed a 26-13 lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter.
Once the first quarter ended, the Warriors nursed a 34-17 lead over Atlanta. Curry outscored the Hawks team by one point, finishing with 17 points while going 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from the free-throw line and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. The Warriors increased their lead to 61-47 at halftime and to 97-77 after the third quarter.
The Warriors (16-9) snapped a two-game losing streak against a rebuilding Hawks team (5-19) for reasons besides Curry. Kevon Looney added a career-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting along with five assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes.
The Hawks were led by John Collins (24 points), Trae Young (20), Taurean Prince (14), Jeremy Lin (14) and DeAndre' Bembry (11).
