Golden State holds off Atlanta to win 60th game of the season

With just 12 losses and an average point differential north of 15, the Warriors haven’t seen themselves in a lot of close matchups. Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks did not follow that protocol.

Clinging to a two-point lead with 18 seconds left, the Warriors needed a clutch basket to preserve the win. As he has done numerous times this season, Stephen Curry did just that. Getting free off an inbound pass from under the hoop, Curry dropped in the game-clinch layup with just 1.8 seconds on the shot clock, leading the Warriors to a 124-117 win.

Curry led the Warriors with 45 points along with 11 rebounds and eight assists while nailing six three-point field goals. Jaylen Brown collected yet another double-double as a member of the Warriors, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Kris Dunn, who has looked more and more comfortable within the Warrior offense, scored 16 points on 12-for-12 shooting from the free throw line, the second game he has gotten 12 free throw attempts and made them all in the last three outings. Through the first three seasons of his career, Dunn had just one game in which he had at least 10 free throws. He has now done it twice in three games.

While the game was close from start to finish, the Warriors took seven-point edge into halftime and would never trail during the second half. Atlanta tied the game with a 7-0 run to start the second half, but the Warriors responded to keep the lead in hand.

The Dubs built up an eight-point lead in the third quarter thanks to a 7-0 run by Curry and Green, but the Hawks managed to chip back into it, with a buzzer-beating layup from John Collins making it a four-point game headed to the fourth.

Atlanta again tied it in the fourth, scoring seven early points to the Warriors three, but Curry made consecutive unanswered baskets to preserve the lead. The Hawks managed to cut it to one point with 2:34 left thanks to a De’Andre Hunter triple, and then to two points with 1:55 left on a Tyreke Evans jumper, but never got over the hump.

Following Curry’s layup with 18 seconds to play, Collins hit a jumper to cut the lead in half just four seconds later, but free throws by Curry and Brown put the game on ice.

Up Next

The Warriors host the Thunder for the fourth and final time of the season on Saturday night. After losing the first matchup, the Warriors have taken the last two meetings 123-111 and 96-94.

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