This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at Miami Heat. The Heat took a 62-61 lead into the break.
THIRD QUARTER
The Heat started missing and the Warriors started making, with an Andrew Bogut dunk (assist Stephen Curry), a Draymond Green jumper, a Klay Thompson layup, and a Curry trey, prompting Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to call timeout with the Dubs leading 72-69 with over seven minutes to play.
Here was Curry’s trey after Harrison Barnes scooped up a loose ball:
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Steph would tally 12 of his 30 points through three periods in the third quarter, 21 of those 30 on seven made three-pointers. Among his highlights aside from the long-range bombs were a right-handed fastbreak reverse layup with the right hand, after a great lead outlet pass from Green on a missed Chalmers shot, and two slip passes to Marreese Speights rolling to the hoop, the second of which made the score 91-84 with 32 ticks remaining.
However, Curry, with the two-for-one opportunity to close out the quarter, threw a bad pass to the right elbow, which was intercepted by the Heat and converted on the other end by Shabazz Napier to cut the Dubs’ lead to 91-86 heading into the final frame.
FOURTH QUARTER
On a couple of Bosh jumpers and a foul by Shaun Livingston on Napier shooting a three-pointer, the Heat had the game tied, 95-95, with 7:30 to play.
Warriors head coach opted to bring Curry back in sooner than he would have liked, and it turned out to be the right move, as Curry got only one minute of rest and replaced Livingston, after Thompson had subbed in for Steph.
Then, the pivotal “quasi-make-or-miss” non-play of the game: Josh McRoberts found himself with the ball on the baseline and the Warriors scrambling to recover on a broken play, and attacked the rim with Bogut helping a split-second late.
Bogut swatted the ball with his right-hand, but got called correctly by the referee for a shove into McRoberts’ chest with the left hand.
However, McRoberts missed both free throws. And then Klay got called for a hook after getting the ball down low posting up on the diminutive Norris Cole. After that, Iguodala tried a screen-handoff early in the offense to Thompson, but got whistled for a bad screen, while Curry stood wide open with his arms flailing, asking for the ball on the opposite elbow.
Yet the Dubs went on a 14-0 run to close out the game, playing great defense with Curry stepping around picks, Green saving and diving for loose balls, and Thompson closing out on a shotclock beating desperation shot by Chalmers from thirty feet away.
Klay swished a trey after Bosh got switched onto Curry, who passed it down to Green versus Napier again. Green got doubled and the ball went to Thompson outside, Bogut on the high pinch, then back to Klay for the splash with a hand in the face.
Then the back-breaking step-back three-pointer by Steph:
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Thompson added injury to insult with another three-pointer and the Warriors led 107-95 with 2:50 to go.
Curry added an and-one driving layup with the right hand and the nail was in the coffin. After hitting the free throw for his season-high 38th point of the night, it was 112-97 with 1:13 remaining.
The Warriors won, 114-97. Curry finished with 40 points on 12-for-19 from the floor, 8-for-11 from downtown, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Thompson added 24 on 10-for-19 field, 3-for-7 beyond the arc. Bogut tallied 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. Barnes had 12 points and 8 rebounds.
The Warriors face the Orlando Magic tomorrow, the second night of a back-to-back.
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