Will Richard drove his hands right into the fray late in the fourth quarter as two Nets lay on their back with the ball near midcourt of the Barclay’s Center. The rookie from Florida ripped the ball away and dribbled toward a completely unguarded basket.
But instead of scoring the two easiest points of his young career, he dished off to teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis for a thunderous dunk. A few minutes later, De’Anthony Melton and Richard scored on back-to-back open-court layups off forced turnovers to ice the game. Like they had all game, the Warriors bench mob stole the show in Golden State’s 120-107 victory over the Nets.
The Warriors bench put up 58 points, with Richard, Jackson-Davis, Melton and Gary Payton II all hitting double figures. Steph Curry scored 26 and surpassed Kevin Garnett (26,071) to move into 21st on the all-time NBA scoring list. Jimmy Butler put up 21 points and made 11 of 12 free throws. Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers with 27 points.
While Golden State arrived in Brooklyn still smarting from Sunday’s overtime loss in Toronto, the Nets entered Monday having won three in a row and having went 7-3 in December.
The Nets winning ways were built off elite defense. Brooklyn, starting a super-sized lineup with four players standing over 6-foot-8, had held opponents to a league-best 103 points per game over the past month. Unlike in Toronto, where the Warriors gave up 70 points in the paint, Golden State outscored the Nets 56-30 in that zone.
Coming off such a taxing game the day before, Kerr ran out a 13-man rotation in an attempt to keep his starters’ minutes low.
Gui Santos, Pat Spencer and Jackson-Davis played in the first half after not playing in Toronto. Jonathan Kuminga was a healthy scratch for the fifth game in a row.
That depth was a strength early on as the Warriors built a 59-57 lead going into halftime. Jackson-Davis, battling illness, gave the Warriors energy from the center spot, scoring 11 and protecting the rim in 22 minutes. Butler scored 10 straight points to end the third quarter as the Warriors went into the fourth quarter up 89-85.
The Warriors (17-16) will finish their three-game road trip in Charlotte on Wednesday.
DeMarco’s last day
One member of the Warriors’ coaching staff will remain in Brooklyn after the game ends. Defensive guru Chris DeMarco is set to begin his new job as the head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
“I’m so grateful the Warriors have given me, and I’m going from one phenomenal organization to another,” DeMarco said on 95.7 FM’s radio broadcast, before reminiscing about starting under Mark Jackson in 2012 and being a part of four title teams under Kerr. “To be able to see it all, it’s been unbelievable for somebody is still young in their career and still growing.”
The 40-year-old is set to lead one of the league’s top franchises, put in charge of getting the best out of Walnut Creek’s Sabrina Ionescu as the Liberty hope to win their second title in three seasons – assuming the WNBA and Player’s Union agree to a new collective bargaining agreement.
Kerr and DeMarco toured what will be the new head coach’s office before the game and wished him well.
“It’s almost surreal,” Kerr said. “He’s been just a great coach and great friend, and I’ll miss him. Twelve years with him, and hugely valuable to our team. He’s kind of done it all.”
Rotation changes
Though the starting lineup of Curry, Moses Moody, Butler, Green and Quinten Post remained consistent, the bench remained in flux against Brooklyn. De’Anthony Melton returned to the rotation after resting against Toronto.
The team is being cautious with the guard’s return from last season’s ACL tear, and is slowly ramping up his minutes from 20 per game while also keeping him from playing both legs of back-to-backs. He grabbed eight rebounds and was a team-high plus-22.
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Al Horford was given the night off after playing against the Raptors the day before. Like Melton, he does not play back-to-backs.
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