Warriors return home and beat lowly Thunder

The Golden State Warriors kicked off their season-ending six-game homestand in style.

Stephen Curry had 34 points and seven assists, while Mychal Mulder finished with 25 points to lead the Dubs to a 118-97 win over the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder.

The shorthanded Warriors needed an easy-win like this after returning home from a tough four-game road trip. The Thunder kept it close early but never led throughout the entire game.

The closest Oklahoma City got was within six points midway through the third, but Golden State quickly pushed its advantage back up to double-digits.

The margin allowed head coach Steve Kerr to rest Curry and Draymond Green for the entirety of the fourth quarter, which is a nice bonus going into the stretch drive of the schedule.

It was a complete performance for the Warriors against a Thunder team that has now lost 18 of their last 19 outings. Golden State held Oklahoma to 40.9 percent shooting from the field and 9-of-39 from beyond the arc. The Warriors also finished with a 49-39 rebounding advantage and had 36 assists to the Thunder’s 21.

Head coach Steve Kerr said he wanted to see his guys play a complete game, and they did that against a lesser team.

“I just liked that we took care of business, I thought that we played a pretty solid game. Our defense was good, we basically took care of the ball, and rebounded well,” Kerr said following the game. “We outrebounded them by 10. They’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league and we really took care of the glass. All good stuff, a lot of guys played well, and we just did what we had to do.”

OKC hung around throughout the first quarter. The Dubs held a four-point midway through the period but began to pull away over the final six minutes. Curry and Wiggins had nine points apiece in the quarter as Golden State shot 54.5 percent from the field to take a 31-24 lead after one.

The Warriors slowly started to increase the lead in the second. Juan Toscano-Anderson made some nice plays and finished the half with seven points and three rebounds off the bench.

Although they were playing a lesser opponent, the defense also looked good during the first half. The Dubs held the Thunder to just 40 percent shooting (4-of-18 from 3) and outrebounded OKC 26-21 over the first 24 minutes.

On the offensive end, Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Kent Bazemore combined for 41 points in the first half and helped the Warriors take a 61-49 lead into the break.

The Dubs kept the Thunder at bay in the third, thanks to a strong quarter from Curry. He finished with 17 points in the period and had 34 through three quarters as Golden State extended its lead to 16 going into the fourth.

With the Memphis Grizzlies losing to the Detroit Pistons, Golden State was able to climb up the Western Conference standings with the victory. The Dubs are sitting in eighth and hold a 0.5 game lead on the Grizz going into the season's final five games.

Golden State will have another great opportunity to get a win when it plays Oklahoma City in the second of a back-to-back on Saturday.