SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry heated up after halftime and the Golden State Warriors cruised to a 120-97 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday at Chase Center.
Curry scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half as Golden State turned a single-point advantage at intermission into a commanding second win in a row, only the second time since mid-November that the Warriors have strung wins together.
Jimmy Butler added an efficient 21 points (7-9 FG, 6-7 FT), Moses Moody stepped up as a third scoring option with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Brandin Podziemski racked up a team-best plus-36 off the bench. Draymond Green, however, was benched midway through the third quarter and did not return to the game.
Curry didn’t sink his first shot from beyond the perimeter until nearly four minutes had expired in the second half. He followed it on the Warriors’ next possession by taking his defender off the dribble, stepping back from 15 feet and sinking a fadeaway jumper. Moments later, he had his left hand on his hip and his right hand in the air, mimicking a lasso motion, as he gyrated, celebrating another 3-pointer that put them ahead 80-75.
The Warriors forced 18 Orlando turnovers, including on consecutive possessions to close the third quarter, allowing Golden State to pull ahead 89-83 by the end of the period. Gui Santos forced a third straight turnover to begin the fourth, Moody drained his third 3-pointer, and the Warriors never trailed again.
Green checked out of the game with 8:31 to go in the third quarter and did not return. He spent the remainder of the period in the locker room and returned to the bench at the start of the fourth quarter wearing a track suit. His substitution came after his first turnover of the night. The Warriors called timeout, and Green appeared to get into a back-and-forth with Kerr before team personnel ushered him into the tunnel.
After an illness kept Jonathan Kuminga out of the Warriors’ previous game, it was coach Steve Kerr’s decision not to include him in Golden State’s rotation against Orlando. Kuminga was ineffective in 10 minutes Thursday at Phoenix after falling out of the rotation the previous three games.
Curry missed all six of his first-half attempts from 3 and was held to 3-of-13 from the field before halftime, but the Warriors went into intermission leading 58-57. With time winding down, Curry intercepted a pass at halfcourt and tossed it ahead to Butler, who played hot potato with Green before finishing a two-handed dunk for two of his team-best 16 points in the first half. The teams went back and forth, trading leads 10 times before halftime.
The Warriors missed nine of their first 10 attempts from 3-point territory and allowed the Magic to shoot 80% from distance in the first quarter (4-of-5). However, Golden State trailed only 30-26 at the end of the opening period. Butler paced the Warriors with seven early points while Curry struggled to get his shot to fall.
Golden State won back-to-back games at Chicago and Cleveland earlier this month but hadn’t strung together multiple wins besides that since winning three in a row from Nov. 16-19.
After Saturday’s win against the Suns, Golden State will have a chance to close off a perfect three-game homestand on Christmas afternoon (2 p.m. tip), when Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks visit San Francisco. The Warriors then hit the road and won’t return to Chase Center until 2026.
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