The Golden State Warriors secured a strong victory, but another bad news dampened their spirits ahead of a tough schedule.

Dead-ball situations — especially during after-timeout (ATO) situations, before jump ball, and before the start of quarters — provide coaches with the best platform to concoct carefully crafted sets that generally see higher success rates than freelance situations.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr used nine players in the first quarter, and all nine scored. Butler scored 10 points, followed by nine from Green, five from Podziemski and Quinten Post, four from Moody and Jonathan Kuminga, three from Buddy Hield and two from Curry and Gui Santos.

Sam Gordon: Warriors move to sixth in the West and improve to 43-31 with a 148-106 victory. Golden State shoots 57.7% and forces 21 turnovers. Brandin Podziemski scores 27 via a career-high six triples. Fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies await Tuesday. Fourth-place L.A. Lakers await Thursday.

413, FT .759. 3-Point Goals: 13-55, .236 (Curry 5-16, Post 3-9, Hield 2-6, Moody 1-3, Butler III 1-6, Podziemski 1-7, Kuminga 0-2, Green 0-3, Santos 0-3). Advertisement Article continues below ...