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OAKLAND — The Warriors head into the locker room with plenty of material that either coach Steve Kerr can use in a film session or in a fiery speech.

For far too often, the Warriors end the first half with either a sluggish start or uninspiring finish. In between, the Warriors throw lazy passes, give up easy baskets and allow their opponents to think they actually have a chance in knocking out the NBA defending champions.

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Warriors’ Steve Kerr says NBA needs more Black head coaches Then reality kicks in. The Warriors open the third quarter with a different identity, the one that propelled them to two NBA titles in the past three NBA Finals. They score in bunches. They show more discipline. They overwhelm their opponent with talent. That left Warriors forward Nick Young with a unique perspective, this season as a participant and earlier as a victim when he played for four seasons with the Lakers.

“They’re so used to winning. They don’t pretty much wake up until they feel they need to,” Young said. “You got teams that come in ready and are amped up to go against a championship team. They know how to win. They know when to turn it on.”

The Warriors have decided it is time to turn it on in the third quarter. For complete Warriors coverage

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Then, the Warriors (10-3) enter Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics (13-2) averaging a team-leading 32.6 points. Though they rank 28th out of 30 NBA teams in turnovers per game (17), the Warriors have committed an average of 3.14 turnovers in their seven-game winning steak in the third quarter while forcing an average of six. As Warriors guard Klay Thompson quipped, “We’re embarrassed with the turnovers we threw in the first half.”

“With our talent, if we can get more field goal attempts than our opponent, we’re in great shape,” Kerr said. “Especially because of the explosiveness and the ability to make threes in transition and back breaking shots like that, if we can generate that kind of ball security and advantage and field goal attempts and possessions, we have a chance to break the game open. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

They have done that so well that they have outscored teams by an average of seven points per game in the third quarter. They also have tallied 44 points in the third quarter last week against Minnesota, a mark that ranks second in the NBA this season behind Houston’s 48-point third-quarter effort on Nov. 5 against Utah.

Still, Warriors forward Kevin Durant does not exactly agree with the narrative that they suddenly try only in the second half. He looked at something more tactical.

“Teams are coming out shooting a great first half with the basketball. It’s just the averages,” Durant said. “In the second half, you put a contest on some of those shots they were hitting in the first half, they’re not going to fall. When we get rebounds and run, that makes us dangerous. We score so quickly.”