Warriors stifle Hawks in blowout victory

SAN FRANCISCO — Feeling Onyeka Okongwu wrapped around his ankles, Steph Curry picked up his head and flung a HORSE shot off the glass.

Once he picked himself up from off the floor, right next to Okongwu, Curry high-fived a toddler sitting courtside in the corner. M-V-P chants followed as Curry finished off the and-1.

That bucket initiated 17 unanswered points for the Warriors, a first-quarter barrage that set them up to coast the rest of the way.

With a tormenting defense and an aggressive Andrew Wiggins (27 points on 12-for-17 shooting), the Warriors (11-4) secured a breezy 120-97 win over Atlanta. Curry poured in 23 as the Warriors held Trae Young to 12 points and the Hawks as a team to 33.3% shooting overall.

Lindy Waters III started his third straight game, replacing De’Anthony Melton — who’s getting season-ending ACL surgery — in the starting lineup. The Warriors like not just his fit within the starting context, but also how the bench flows afterwards.

After Curry’s early and-1, the other Warriors joined in the action. Buddy Hield hit his first three shots, including two from deep. Jonathan Kuminga scored six points in his first five minutes. Brandin Podziemski, who has had a brutal shooting start to the year, hit a step-back 3.

As the Warriors got hot, they held Atlanta scoreless for five minutes. Kevon Looney affected shots at the rim and the Hawks turned it over multiple times. After one Kuminga steal, he found Hield leaking out for an easy dunk.

The onslaught put Golden State up 41-22 after the first period.

It was all Golden State’s defense needed to turn on cruise control.

To end a dominant first half, the Warriors ripped off a 10-0 run strictly on turning the Hawks over. Atlanta coughed it up four times in the last two minutes, including two from Trae Young. The Warriors trapped Young in the pick-and-roll when he was close to a sideline, and Draymond Green played the cat-and-mouse game in the paint whenever he snaked into the lane. A Kyle Anderson strip led out to a breakaway.

Defense to offense, rinse and repeat.

At halftime, the Hawks had eight turnovers and were 6-for-14 from the line. It was like the Warriors gave them their worst qualities but nothing else.

Atlanta shot 30% from the field and 6-for-23 (26.1%) from behind the arc in the first half. They were bound for some positive regression, certain to make a run. Like the Rockets did. Like the Thunder did.

It didn’t come immediately. On one play, no Hawk checked Gary Payton II, giving him a wide open dunk after he set up under the rim. After a made shot, the Hawks didn’t get back on defense, letting Payton slip past them for an alley-oop from Curry at halfcourt.

But eventually the Hawks woke up. After falling behind by 31, the Hawks finally shored up their off-ball defense and threw different defensive looks at Golden State. The Warriors went scoreless for the last four minutes of the third quarter, seeing their lead halve.

The Hawks were at one point defeated and deflated, but the Warriors let them hang around.

Brandin Podziemski, who removed his protective face mask for his broken nose eight days prior, got hit in the face three minutes into the fourth quarter and left for the trainer’s room. At that point, the Warriors still maintained a 16-point lead.

And that was as close as Atlanta would get. Curry and Green returned, and they — plus Wiggins — closed it out. Kuminga only played mop-up minutes in the fourth quarter, entering with two minutes left and a 26-point lead. It’s not like the Warriors needed him to close out the Hawks, but finding a consistent role for Kuminga should be a priority for the organization.

The immediate priority, though, is winning games. And the Warriors are doing plenty of that.