OAKLAND — It’s not that record, but the Warriors did blow past the Chicago Bulls in the NBA record books Monday.
Golden State rediscovered its shooting stroke and overcame some more sloppy play to down the Orlando Magic 119-113 and win its 45th straight regular-season game at Oracle Arena.
That streak, which dates to January 2015, tops the 44 consecutive home wins by the Bulls spanning two seasons from 1995-96.
“A remarkable job by our players over the last two years,” coach Steve Kerr said. “There’s so many games where the ball could bounce either way. We’ve definitely had some of those during this streak. We could’ve lost I’m sure several times last year. We could’ve lost tonight, very easily. But we keep putting ourselves in position to win games and dominate our home floor, and I’m really proud of the guys for that.”
It comes as no surprise that Stephen Curry played a major role. Fresh from making just 1 of 10 3-pointers in Sunday’s ugly 112-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Curry was back on top of his game.
The reigning league MVP knocked down seven from beyond the arc, becoming the first NBA player to make 300 3-pointers in a season, extending his record. He finished with 41 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 300 was the prettiest one of the night, too, as he showed off his handles to Orlando’s 6-foot-10 Ersan Ilyasova before crossing over to drain a step-back 28-footer.
Curry’s heroics helped offset a game in which the Warriors committed a season-high 24 turnovers and allowed the Magic to score 67 points in the second half.
“We played harder than we did yesterday, which was a good step,” Kerr said, “but we didn’t play that much smarter. That’s what we have to take care of.”
Kerr was particularly bothered by the turnovers, on the heels of 20 giveaways in Sunday’s loss.
“I could rattle off 10 easy that were just inexcusable,” Kerr said. “That’s kind of our weakness. Sometimes the game comes too easy for our guys, and they just think they can do anything. We’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of skill. What we have to get back to is simple, simple, simple, and that’s good enough. The simple leads to the spectacular.”
Draymond Green was responsible for seven turnovers on a night he battled through a bout of strep throat that left him questionable until about an hour before tipoff. Green was shaky early on but finished with 10 assists and nine rebounds on a night he scored only one point.
The Warriors led 94-77 entering the fourth quarter, then allowed Orlando to make it interesting.
San Jose native Aaron Gordon hit a turnaround jumper with 6:32 to play that pulled the Magic within 102-96. Gordon finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Curry connected on another 28-footer with just under 4 minutes to play that made it 109-100, but that wasn’t enough to send Orlando packing.
The Magic used a 7-0 run and cut the Warriors’ lead to 111-109 when Victor Oladipo made two free throws with 1:13 left. Just before that, Oladipo scored on a breakaway layup after a bad pass from Green that became the Warriors’ 24th turnover.
Another sloppy possession nearly hurt Golden State, but Klay Thompson was able to corral a loose ball and knock down a 3 that gave the Warriors some breathing room at 114-109 with 52.5 left.
Andrew Bogut followed that up by poking away a pass for a steal that led to an easy Curry layup, and the Warriors were able to put away the game in the final minute.
Curry and Thompson, a night after combining to go 1 of 18 from 3-point range, teamed up for a 12-of-24 effort. The Warriors shot 16 of 35 as a team from long range, brushing off Sunday’s season-worst 4-of-30 effort.
Thompson, who missed all eight of his 3-pointers Sunday, hit 5 of 11 Monday en route to 27 points.
“If this was a playoff game, he’d be playing,” Kerr said before the game, “but we don’t want to take any chances.”
