What we learned as Steph Curry’s big third quarter fuels Warriors’ win vs. Magic originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – It was one month ago when the Magic beat the Warriors by eight points without Paolo Banchero. The former No. 1 pick was on the court Monday night for Orlando, but this time it was down Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva, all three of whom started when these two teams last battled each other.
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The Warriors took advantage of an undermanned Magic team five weeks later, closing the first half on a 5-0 run and cruising in the second half for a 120-97 win at Chase Center. After leading by one point at halftime, the Warriors outscored the Magic 62-40 in the second half.
Steph Curry, after a slow start, scored a game-high 26 points and dished a team-high six assists. Jimmy Butler only needed nine shot attempts to reach 21 points, and Moses Moody (20 points) gave the Warriors three different 20-point scorers.
This wasn’t a win from one, two or even three Warriors. A plethora had their hands in the victory as the bench outscored Orlando’s reserves 36-21.
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Here are three takeaways from a Warriors win that got them back to .500 with a 15-15 record.
Steph Finds His Second-Half Groove
Any sign of discomfort for Curry is an automatic reason for all of Dub Nation to hold its breath, which is what happened early in the second quarter. Curry twisted his left ankle near the Warriors’ bench, began limping and bent over to talk with the coaches as Gary Payton II was whistled for an offensive foul.
But Curry stayed in the game and drained a deep 2-pointer that originally was listed as a 3-pointer on the Warriors’ next offensive possession. He only scored eight points in the first half on 3-of-13 shooting and missed all six of his 3-point attempts as the Warriors struggled from deep as a team.
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At the 8:20 mark of the third quarter, Curry finally got a 3-pointer to land on his seventh try. And then he made a 30-foot stepback, followed by a 15-foot stepback mid-range jumper. He didn’t make consecutive shots once in the first two quarters, and then was a perfect 6-of-6 shooting and 3 of 3 from 3-point range in the third quarter.
Curry enjoyed the final seven-plus minutes from the bench. Starting slow and catching fire in the third quarter, 18 of Curry’s 26 points came in the second half, including all four of his threes. He now has scored at least 25 points in nine of his last 12 games.
Different Kind of Aggressive Butler
In Butler’s own words, after Saturday night’s win, the reasoning behind his second straight big scoring game was as simple as can be: He got the ball. Warriors coach Steve Kerr and his players have spoken about the need to get Butler into a rhythm offensively, and their intentions are clear.
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Strength on strength, power vs. power. The matchup between Butler and Banchero was one to keep your eyes on, with both muscling their way to the basket. Butler, in the previous two games, averaged 28 points and 19 field goal attempts.
He didn’t need to reach those numbers for the Warriors to get their second straight win. Butler was the Warriors’ leading scorer going into halftime with 16 points on just six shots with only one miss. His aggressiveness also was seen in Butler going 6 of 7 on free throws in the first half.
Butler took just one shot in the third quarter, swishing a one-legged three from the left corner at the end of the shot clock. He took two more in the fourth quarter, bringing him to 21 points on nine shots and seven free throw attempts. An aggressive Butler game can come in a handful of ways.
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Respect The Hustle
Like an out-of-control 8-year-old child, Brandin Podziemski sometimes needs a reminder to take a deep breath and relax. There were instances on Monday night where a nudge to do so was needed. But his hustle couldn’t be denied.
Look at how his willingness to dive on the floor led to a chaotic Curry three in the third quarter.
When Podziemski truly is impacting a game, it’s felt, and that was the case against the Magic. His plus/minus met the eye test. Podziemski was a game-high plus-36 in 28 minutes off the bench, doing a bit of everything with 16 points, four rebounds and five assists.
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Both Payton and Moody had similar influences on the win. Moody was second to Podziemski as a plus-23 while scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and making three 3-pointers. Payton threw down multiple dunks and tallied seven points, four rebounds and five assists.
The dynamic duo of Curry and Butler led the Warriors to their second straight win. They couldn’t get it done, though, without the effort of an energetic Podziemski-Payton-Moody trio.
