The Golden State Warriors were in New York at Barclays Center, site of the Three-Point Shootout that the #SplashBrothers participated in for All-Star Weekend, to face the Brooklyn Nets. The Warriors did not arrive in New York until 3:00AM in the morning for this second night of a back-to-back.
Leandro Barbosa was out ill.
1ST QUARTER: Bogut Alive!
Andrew Bogut only played 19 minutes in last night’s win at Boston, but whether or not that contributed to his early energy on this, Bogut was producing early.
The young athletic Mason Plumlee had the first laugh, though, as he picked the ball from Bogut on ball pressure on the high pick action well beyond the arc.
But Bogut got a tip-in of a Harrison Barnes drive and missed reverse layup after wheeling around the paint, then got another putback of a Barnes miss, this time a one-handed righty bank tip-in after Harrison missed the fade-away from the left baseline.
Bogut converted again after Barnes rebounded a miss by Klay Thompson, then Curry got the ball down low to Draymond Green, who found a cutting Bogut for the slam.
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Nets head coach Lionel Hollins called a timeout for Brooklyn to regroup, down 7-6 to the Warriors with 8:11 to go in the first frame.
Bogut’s good play continued, as he got a block of Plumlee, although Markel Brown got the putback, then Bogut got an entry pass from Curry and with Plumlee collapsing, got the baby left hook to drop, giving him 8 of the Warriors’ first 9 points, with Golden State leading early, 9-8, with 7:35 to play in the quarter.
After Deron Williams turned the ball over, caused by good chasing defense by Barnes, Bogut got the loose ball and the credit for the steal, then Curry ran a pick-and-roll with him, had the defense frozen for a milli-second, then attacked with the left hand, then lobbed the ball to Bogut who had slipped to the cup, and Bogut had a one-handed alley-oop smash.
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Bogut’s length then helped him tap out a miss by Curry. Thompson got the ball and drove hard from left to right into the paint. Upon attracting the help defense, Klay found Steph wide open from the right corner for a three-point splash.
Before he subbed out, Bogut even got in a 19-foot jumper from the left elbow that hit back rim out. At the 3:32 mark down 20-16, Kerr brought Marreese Speights in for Bogut.
However, former All-Star center Brook Lopez, who had replaced Plumlee earlier in the quarter, continued ot make a barrage of buckets, starting with a flat-footed jumper from the left elbow.
After another jumper, a bunny putback of his own miss in the paint, Lopez had 11 points in just 6 minutes of play.
Shaun Livingston ended the quarter with two consecutive assists, finding David Lee on a cut to the hoop and Speights at the top for a jumper, but Brown hit a three from the left side and Jarrett Jack got a pull up to go over Justin Holiday, and after Speights missed a three from the deep left corner at the buzzer, the Nets took a 33-23 lead into the second frame.
2ND QUARTER: Bench Unit Keeps It Close
Festus Ezeli got the call to start the second period and immediately grabbed three rebounds. Andre Iguodala continued his sensational play, confidently burying a three from the left side after Lopez got switched on him, going between the legs on a dribble-and-pop on Alan Anderson, hustled back to take the ball out of bounds on a Bojan Bogdanovic steal and run-out dunk of a Lee mishandled dribble, to advance the ball quickly after the made basket, which ended up with Lee converting a righty post up.
Iguodala also got a blocked shot which led to Ezeli — who had gotten two buckets on a tip-in of misses by Livingston and Lee, then layup assisted by a behind-the-back feed by Livingston — being fouled. Ezeli split the pair of free throws and the Warriors were down 40-35 with 8:26 to go in the half.
Lopez continued his scoring, but Ezeli kept his momentum going, getting an alley oop, again assisted by Livingston, and an and-one assisted by Lee.
<script
After an Iguodala steal and a pass between the legs to a cutting Livingston for a layup, the Nets' lead was cut to 47-43 with 5:52 remaining, but Plumlee found Thaddeus Young for a layup and Kerr called timeout with 5:12 remaining and Golden State down, 49-43.
Enter Curry, Thompson, and Bogut, with Lee and Holiday the bench players remaining with the starters. After a Holiday steal with the long arms reaching in, Curry found Bogut for an inside bunny and the big man all of a sudden had 14 points, just one shy of his season high.
But then Bogut pushed Plumlee rather aggressively while defending an inside entry pass and collected two fouls on the egregious play, one for the initial foul and one for the Flagrant One for pushing Plumlee afterwards. However, Plumlee missed both free throws.
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Curry committed a foul right after that and went to the bench saddled with three personals.
Although the rest of the Warriors weren’t hitting much, going 14-for-39 in the half, Bogut continued his great play. After Livingston scored a layup on a laser cut and a feed by Lee, Bogut posted up Lopez on the right block and converted a swooping lefty hook with Brook draped all over him.
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On defense, Bogut danced in and out of the paint, trying to avoid the defensive three-second call, swatted an unsuspecting Joe Johnson as Johnson attempted a post-up on a smaller Warriors defender.
But Thompson missed another three-pointer as the halftime clock wound down and the Nets, who shot 55.6% (25-for-45), took a 57-51 lead into halftime.
Bogut led the way with 16 points, 6 rebounds, while Livingston added 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists. Thompson was just 1-for-8 for 2 points and Curry had just 3 points, but played only 9 minutes as he was in foul trouble and Kerr had confidence with the good play of the bench unit.
Lopez led the Nets with 16 on 8-for-15 shooting and Anderson added 12.
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