Steinmetz's Instant Replay: Warriors cut through Nets

BOX SCORE
Warriors 102, Nets 93Player of the game: Klay Thompson emerged from a shooting slump to score 23 points and help lead the Warriors to their fourth victory in five games.Thompson went 10-for-19 from the field, marking the first time all season hes made more than half of his shots in a game.He entered the game shooting just 33 percent from the field for the season.It felt like I got my game back, Thompson said. It felt great. I want to build on it Friday (vs. Denver) and keep this little win streak going. Im not going to lie to you, it felt amazing.Key stretch: The Warriors finished off the third quarter on a 14-3 run, which turned a three-point deficit into a 74-66 lead. The run was punctuated by a four-point play by Stephen Curry with 2.5 seconds remaining.Curry pulled up in transition from beyond the arc, was fouled by C.J. Watson, and the ball went in.Curry finished with 25 points to lead the Warriors, and David Lee had 20 points and 13 rebounds.Thompson, who missed five of his first seven shots, had eight of the Warriors 14 points at the end of the period, knocking down two 3-pointers and converting on a drive.Nothing really changed, Thompson said. I had a tough four-game stretch and its been a tough 11 games shooting the ball. But I got in the gym and ironed out my shot a little bit. It just feels great to come out here and see it pay off.Said Warriors coach Mark Jackson: Great to see Klay take and make shots. Ive said all along Im not concerned about Klays shooting. Thats like being concerned with Albert Pujols not hitting.He works too hard and its a gift. You dont lose a gift.Uneven but in it: The Warriors didnt play particularly well in the first half, but they did enough to be in the game. After falling behind 39-26, Golden State tightened the defense and crawled within 46-41 at intermission.Harrison Barnes was the best player on the floor for the Warriorsoffensively, at leastscoring nine points and grabbing three rebounds in 17 minutes.The player giving the Warriors the most difficulty was Brook Lopez, who had 12 points at halftime on 6-for-10 shooting. Lopez did most of his damage on the interior, which isnt where he did most of his damage on Tuesday night against the Lakers.Lopez knocked down plenty of perimeter shots in the Nets 95-90 loss to the Lakers in L.A., but against the Warriors he made use of his size and scored mostly in close.We dont have LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant so we are going to have to do it by committee, Jackson said. We have some special talent but were going to have to do it by committee --- five guys holding onto the rope.Curry streak ends: Curry entered Wednesdays game having made 30 consecutive free throws. But that streak came to an end in the second quarter at 32after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Deron Williams.Curry made the first two, and then the third one curled out.Who was out: The Warriors were without three playersAndrew Bogut, Brandon Rush and Richard Jefferson. Bogut, who is recovering from a fractured left ankle, hopes to practice on Monday. But he wont play before Nov. 29.Rush tore his ACL in the second game of the season and will miss the remainder of the season. An MRI on Jefferson revealed a strained right calf. He didnt play against Brooklyn and is day-to-day.The Nets were without Gerald Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse.Rush back: Warriors small forward Brandon Rush was back at Oracle Arena on Wednesday for the first time since tearing the ACL in his left leg on Nov. 1.Rush sustained the injury while going up for a dunk in transition, but was thrown off-balance when Zach Randolph hit him trying to make a block.Rush is expected to miss the whole season.It was bad timing being the second game of the season and I was playing well, Rush said. I was very confident in my abilities and the, boom, this happens. Just brought me right back down.