De’Anthony Melton came off the bench to produce a season-high 24 points, Draymond Green added 20 and the Golden State Warriors relied on depth in the absence of Jimmy Butler III to defeat the Charlotte Hornets 136-116 in San Francisco on Saturday night.
Reserves Brandin Podziemski (16), Buddy Hield (14) and Al Horford (11) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who equaled their longest winning streak of the season with their third in a row.
Brandon Miller had a game-high 28 points and Kon Knueppel 24 for the Hornets, who have alternated wins and losses in their first four outings on a five-game Western trip.
Coming off a 32-point performance in Thursday’s home win over the New York Knicks, Butler warmed up but didn’t reappear from the locker room with the team for the start of the game. The Warriors announced his absence was due to personal reasons.
With rookie Will Richard in Butler’s place, Golden State responded with a strong start. Green had eight points and combined with Moses Moody and Quentin Post for five 3-pointers in a 19-10 burst over the first 5:16.
With their reserves outscoring their starters 35-34, the Warriors extended the advantage to 69-57 by halftime. Charlotte never got closer than three in the second half.
Melton’s 24 points were one more than his 23 in a win over Portland on Tuesday. He hit half his 16 shots and half his six 3-point attempts on a night when the Warriors shot 54.8% overall and 44.2% from deep.
Green joined Moody with a team-high four 3-pointers en route to his second-highest point total of the season, missing his season best by one. He also found time for six assists, one fewer than team leader Podziemski.
Stephen Curry (14) and fellow starters Moody (12) and Richard (11) made it eight players in double figures for the Warriors, who topped 130 points for the seventh time this season.
Miller did a majority of his scoring from beyond the arc, hitting six of 11. His teammates were successful on just 10 of their 33 attempts, however.
Knueppel completed the game’s only double-double with 11 rebounds, while Collin Sexton chipped in with 17 points and LaMelo Ball 15.
