The Warriors came alive in the third quarter after a lethargic opening half plagued by cold shooting, shoddy defense and too many fouls.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Warriors overcame a double-digit deficit after the break and held a four-point lead with about a minute remaining, but couldn’t hold on and fell to the Charlotte Hornets 120-113 in overtime.The ball was in Stephen Curry’s hands to deliver the dagger in his hometown. But Dennis Smith Jr. smothered Curry, who barely got a shot off at the buzzer that was off the mark, sending the game into overtime.
The Warriors came alive in the third quarter after a lethargic opening half plagued by cold shooting, shoddy defense and too many fouls, and kept that energy for most of the remainder of the game. But the effort waned at the back-end of overtime. Jordan Poole forced a steal and turned it into a two-point basket, but contact made with a Hornets player sent the 23-year-old crashing down the floor. He was slow to get up and winced in pain as he held his right shoulder.
“The first game on an East Coast road trip is always pretty tough,” said Looney, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. “Credit to those guys, they came out firing, they were pushing the ball, playing with a lot of pace. Took us a while to get our legs under us and once you start to hit some shots and get some stops, the game starts flowing better.”