The Golden State Warriors improved to 39-34 on the season on Friday night with a 115-97 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. The Warriors promised they would hold onto at least a one-game lead going into the weekend, despite the Rockets being right on their tails for the final play-in position and the 10th seed in the Western Conference.

The second and third most productive scorers on the Warriors this season, Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga, were both absent. Fortunately for the Dubs, other players in the rotation filled the vacuum.

Early in the game, the Hornets had a small lead, but a few minutes later, the Warriors took over and never looked back. Although Golden State trailed by just 50 points at the half after almost losing a double-digit lead during the second quarter, they took control of the game early in the third and never looked back.

Head coach Steve Kerr persisted in starting rookie guard Brandin Podziemski outside of the starting lineup despite Thompson’s absence. He was replaced by Chris Paul, who had a fantastic performance. Paul finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 of 6 field goals in almost 33 minutes of play.

Despite Steph Curry’s game-high 23 points, the Dubs offense had a number of supporting players step up. Andrew Wiggins finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and a block in yet another successful game. On 9 of 13 shots, Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with eight rebounds and eight points. 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists were all tallied by Draymond Green.

Moses Moody was a hell of a three-point shooter off the bench, making four of his five attempts and finishing with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 23 minutes.