To say the Golden State Warriors are having a historically good season would be an understatement.
In downing the Charlotte Hornets 116-99 on Wednesday night, the Warriors moved to 20-0 on the season, remaining undefeated as they continue their dominant title defense. The Warriors' 20-0 start matched that of the 1884 St. Louis Maroons, an early pro baseball team, notes CSN Bay Area.
Leading MVP-candidate Stephen Curry poured in 28 points in the third quarter, as he electrified the home crowd watching by torching the Hornets for the Warriors’ last 24 points of the quarter. That put the Warriors up 93-72, sealing the game. Curry, a Charlotte native, sat out the entire fourth quarter of the game, as he’d done already many times this year as Golden State blew out another team.
Curry still managed to score 40 points on the night on only 18 shots. He made four three-pointers in the final two minutes of the third quarter, with each three coming from a longer distance.
“When he's feeling it and shoots the ball, he's already running to the other end of the court,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton told The Associated Press. “He knows the ball's going in before the rest of us. He's doing an amazing job of picking his spots. He's in his hometown, and he's the best player in the league, and he wants to put on a show.”
Curry has had a dazzling season, averaging a league-leading 32.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists this season in only 34.4 minutes per game. Curry is making 5.1 three-pointers per game, and is on pace to obliterate his own season record of 286 three pointers in a season set last year.
Through 20 games, Curry has six 40-point games, despite only playing 34.4 minutes a night. The rest of the NBA has surpassed the 40-point mark just once.
The Warriors bring their undefeated season to Toronto on Saturday.