ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Utah Jazz at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 49-40 lead into the second half.
3RD QUARTER: Barbosa With The “Hesi”
“Chef Curry” kept stirring the pot early, getting two treys in the first three minutes of play to maintain a 9-point lead over the Jazz, 55-46, with 9:06 to play in the third frame.
But Gordon Hayward answered the call with a dribble-and-pop fade on the left baseline over Harrison Barnes, plus a right-elbow trey assisted by Dante Exum, and the Jazz were back in business, 55-51, with 8:18 to go.
But with Andrew Bogut posting up down low, Barnes made a cut and his two-hand slam started a Warriors mini-run.
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After Derrick Favors swept across the lane and put up a shot that went short, Bogut found Curry over the top of Exum and Rudy Gobert, connecting for a pretty layup by Steph.
Justin Holiday added a fastbreak layup after Rodney Hood missed a layup, and Utah head coach Quin Snyder called timeout with 6:40 to go in the quarter and the Warriors up, 61-53.
Leandro Barbosa added a layup off a “hesi” move, answering a Trey Burke three-pointer, then Gobert missed from inside, Draymond Green got the defensive rebound, then went coast-to-coast with a backward pass to Andre Iguodala for the two-handed finish.
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Burke continued his strong shooting performance on the night, drilling a trey over Curry, but Bogut came to life offensively with a lefty over Gobert from the deep left block, then put back an airball by Iguodala.
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Later, Marreese Speights lasered a touchdown pass to Green, who got fouled.
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It was an ill-advised pass, as it had to, and did, go through Burke to reach its destination. Speights pointed to himself as if to say, “My bad,” and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr laughed in response.
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Barbosa then sparked another run, as he went left-to-right through the lane for a shot-put bucket, then stole a drive from Favors, found Green who flipped the ball back to Barbosa, who drained the three while falling away on the catch, to make it 85-71 with just 30 ticks left in the third.
But Burke assisted a Trevor Booker dunk while falling down, and Green missed a wide-open three-pointer at the quarter buzzer, swinging his arm in frustration.
The Warriors took an 85-73 lead into the final frame as Curry had amassed 22 points on 8-for-16 field, 3-for-5 downtown, while Green added 13 points although he was just 2-for-9 shooting, but hit 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Barbosa chipped in 17 points on an impressive 8-for-10 floor.
Favors led the Jazz with 18 points on 7-for-11 field and 7 rebounds, while Gobert added 8 boards and Burke tallied 16 points, including 4-for-10 downtown.
4TH QUARTER: Buffer Holds Strong
Hood and Burke kept the Jazz in the game, with Hood getting a bucket in the paint then scoring on a dribble-and-pop. Burke dissected the Warriors’ defense and got Favors an and-one against Speights. Kerr inserted Bogut for Speights, but Burke got him with a trey as Bogut was switched. Kerr called timeout with 8:22 to play with the Warriors lead trimmed to 89-83.
Shaun Livingston had a jumper sandwiched between two Bogut jump hooks and by the time Curry returned to the game with 5:04 remaining, Golden State was back up by 12.
The Warriors’ team defense held serve, with an impressive Hayward right baseline jumper over Iguodala their best highlight, and it was still Golden State up, 99-88, with 3:01 left.
The only other items of note were a Curry finger roll that fell short on the fastbreak after Bogut blocked a layup by Elijah Millsap, then Iguodala draining a trey from the right side, assisted by Green, but as they celebrated and smiled on the way back on defense, Jazz backup center Jack Cooley got fouled hard by Bogut. The refs reviewed the play and ruled it common foul.
The game ended without much fanfare and the Warriors held on for a convincing 106-91 victory over the young Jazz.
Curry led all scorers with 24 points on 8-for-18 floor, 3-for-6 downtown, but just 3 assists and 3 steals. Barbosa finished with 19 points, Green had 15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, on 11-for-13 from the charity stripe, and Iguodala scored 13 in 30 minutes of play.
Favors led the Jazz with 21 points, 11 boards, while Burke added 20 off the bench. Hood chipped in 19.
The Warriors will play the Wizards at home in two nights.
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