Instant Replay: Warriors 103, Hornets 96

BOX SCORE

Oracle Arena -- Jarrett Jack isn’t as candid as his teammate Carl Landry.

The tandem that has been so good off the bench for Golden State both had standout games against their former team as the Warriors defeated the New Orleans Hornets 103-96 on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

Jack scored 14 points and tallied 10 assists while Landry scored 16 points and added nine rebounds.

When Jack was asked about playing against the team he spent the last two seasons with, he took the political stance:

“It’s just another game,” said Jack, who recorded his first double-double of the season. “I’ve played against former teams and had emotions involved before but not so much now. I’m older, you just look at it as another game.”

But when Landry, who is more animated and forthright in front of a microphone, was asked if he believed Jack’s restrained comments, the forward simply grinned, laughed and spewed his truth:

“Not for me, and I don’t think it was for him,” said Landry, who also played for New Orleans the past two seasons. “No, not at all. Jarrett was extra amped up and I was too. We didn’t need a five-hour, we didn’t need a speech; we didn’t need anything like that. We were ready to play – yesterday.”

Warriors coach Mark Jackson called it before the game. He said in his pregame news conference that, while they might downplay it, both Jack and Landry had a little more “juice” before the game.

“They played big for us,” Jackson said. “Obviously, as a former player, I understand playing against a team you used to be with. You can tell their energy level this morning was different.”

When the game was tied at 92-92 with just more than three minutes remaining, it was Landry who went to the floor for a steal, followed by an aggressive offensive move to the basket by Jack that led to two made free throws. The Warriors never lost the lead from that moment.

The Hornets had come back to tie the game late after the Warriors had held a comfortable lead for most of the night. The Warriors built a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led 59-50 at half on 55 percent shooting.

Of course, it wasn’t just the bench. David Lee continued to shine. The star forward scored 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting and added nine rebounds and four assists. His streak of consecutive games with 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds did come to an end, just one rebound shy.

Lee spoke after the game about the difficulties of playing at home after a long road trip.

“One of the hardest games to play in the NBA is the first game back home after a road trip and getting back on west coast time,” Lee said. “These aren’t excuses, it’s just the fact of the matter.”

Jackson said that he received a text from former teammate and NBA great Reggie Miller after the game congratulating him on a hard-earned home win after a long, successful road trip.

Stephen Curry shot 5-for-13 from the field for 13 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Klay Thompson scored 19 points, included 3-for-8 three-pointers.

With the win, Golden State improves to 17-8 for the first time since 1991-92.

Ryan Anderson scored 28 points off the bench and Anthony Davis recorded his third career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Rookie center Festus Ezeli returned after missing Saturday night’s game in Atlanta with a right knee contusion. Ezeli scored two points and grabbed six rebounds in 10 minutes. Andris Biedrins, who would have started in his place if Ezeli could not go, did not play any minutes.