Ten observations from watching Hawks at Warriors on TV . . .
- The Warriors are championship contenders but they were missing a lot of talent against the Hawks. All-Stars Kevin Durant (rib), Draymond Green (pelvis) and Klay Thompson (thumb) were out. That means Golden State still had one All-Star available, two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who returned from a six-game absence because of an ankle injury. Even with Curry these injury-thinned Warriors looked mortal. Then Curry went to the bench after banging his left knee in the third quarter and didn't return. But the Hawks couldn't take advantage of a vulnerable opponent, with their 9-for-20 night at the free-throw line contributing to the missed opportunity.
- Dennis Schroder missed two free throws with the Hawks trailing 90-86 with 4:58 to play. Nick Young made a pull-up jumper, Andre Iguodola made a three-pointer and Young also sank a three to push the lead to 98-86 with 2:50 to play. The Hawks failed to score on five of six possessions as the Warriors made their finishing kick.
- The Hawks led 51-43 at halftime and the game was tied 66-66 when Curry went out at 3:09 of the third quarter. The Warriors closed with a 13-8 run to lead 79-74 entering the final period. Golden State erupted for 31 points in the third quarter, including 13 by Curry.
- Taurean Prince found his offense again with 20 points on 18 shots, including 4-for-8 on three-pointers. Prince was 4-for-6 on free throws and Mike Muscala was 2-for-2 and the rest of the Hawks managed just 12 attempts and three makes.
- Curry was starting to take over when he banged knees with teammate JaVale McGee.Curry missed all five three-point tries in the first half. He made his first attempt after halftime and finished 3-for-8 on three-pointers while scoring 29 points on 18 shots in 25 minutes. Curry also had seven rebounds, including a third-quarter putback in which he snagged the rebound away from Mike Muscala.
- The Warriors scored 16 points in the first quarter and had just 20 points with seven minutes until halftime, when they were 9 for 35 from the field. The Hawks led 33-20 at that point and the margin could have been larger if not for six missed free throws on eight attempts. The lead swelled to 37-22 before the Warriors responded with a 13-0 run that featured consecutive pull-up jumpers by Curry and back-to-back by Nick Young. The Hawks cracked back and took the 51-43 lead into halftime.
- Hawks rookie John Collins returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury. He rolled the same ankle while landing on Taurean Prince's foot in the second quarter but returned to the game. Collins (nine points on seven shots, seven rebounds) looked good both before and after the scare, especially when diving to the rim. But to become a bigger part of the offense he's going to have to figure out a way to create off the dribble or make spot-up jumpers.
- Schroder (16 points on 17 shots) was 0-for-4 on three-pointers to drop to 76-for-262 on the season (29 percent). His misses are getting uglier. Schroder had more success against the Warriors when attacking the basket and creating mid-range looks, which he's made at a good clip this season (43 percent before tonight, according to Cleaning the Glass). Schroder rolled his left ankle early in the fourth quarter. The Hawks were down by seven points when he left and faced the same margin when he returned with 6:54 to play
- Damion Lee signed a second 10-day contract in the hours before the game and then made his third start. He was productive and pretty efficient offensively with 10 points on 10 shots, one assist and one turnover. As usual, Lee played with confidence and while looking to score and didn't force much. He also collected eight rebounds and effectively defended positions one through three.
- Ex-Hawks prospect Quinn Cook played 31 minutes with Curry limited. Cook took it to his old team: 13 points on 11 shots, six assists against one turnover, eight rebounds in 31 minutes. Josh Magette, the point guard the Hawks kept instead of Cook, got a DNP-CD.
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