This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets took a 62-54 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Barbosa From Downtown
The Warriors missed six of their first seven shots to start the second half, with the only bucket coming from a David Lee inside finger roll finish.
Danilo Gallinari snagged a missed jumper by Draymond Green and went coast-to-coast for the two-handed flush and, after two more misses by Justin Holiday, Jameer Nelson turned the ball over and Golden State head coach Steve Kerr took that opportunity to call a timeout and regroup with the Warriors down, 68-56, with 8:23 left in the quarter.
Lee went to work, getting a left side bank to fall out of the timeout, then drawing a foul down low on Gallinari after Kenneth Faried had emphatically swatted the first “volleyball set” missed attempt by Lee out of bounds (instead of keeping the ball live for the Nuggets by simply tapping it away).
Shaun Livingston added a jumper and Green got a two-handed putback lay-in when Leandro Barbosa went too hard off board on his patented left-side lane attack.
But Faried had a monster right-handed dunk going unmolested into the paint over Lee, as well as a putback of a Randy Foye layup blocked by Lee. Green was way short on a three-point attempt and Harrison Barnes, struggling all night, was called for traveling after posting up the smaller Foye on the right block.
James Michael McAdoo came in for Green at the 4:46 mark with the Warriors down 74-66 and changed the game again.
First Barbosa got hot, swishing a right elbow three-pointer after Brandon Rush and Lee tried twice on the left side to get Lee posted up unsuccessfully.
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Barbosa then added another trey in early offense after Lee rebounded a miss by Faried.
With Denver’s attention now focused on Barbosa, Livingston glided down the right baseline for a two-handed dunk. After a Foye jumper and a foul by Jameer Nelson on the ensuing possession by the Warriors, Nuggets head coach Melvin Hunt called timeout.
Kerr’s “ATO” (after-timeout play) this time went to Livingston, who inbounded the ball, then got a screen from Barbosa, then dunked the ball two-handed on a feed by McAdoo.
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Barbosa then added another trey. Rush missed an open shot from downtown, but McAdoo tracked down the loose ball in the corner and blindly threw the ball back in over his head. Festus Ezeli happened to be in the right place at the right time, found Barbosa wide open beyond the arc, and the veteran drained the shot.
Hunt called timeout again, with the Nuggets’ lead halved to 82-79 with 1:29 to go in the third frame.
The bench Warriors weren’t finished with their stellar play, as Barbosa made a familiar hesitation dribble, something Denver was apparently not familiar with, on the left side and got a right-handed bankshot to fall, McAdoo drew a charge on Jusuf Nurkic, then McAdoo got the ball, relieving pressure on Barbosa — playing point guard — thirty-five feet away from the basket just past halfcourt, dribbling with giant steps down the lane for a left-handed jam.
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The bench, especially Stephen Curry had a lot of fun cheering on the bench players.
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Holiday stole the ball from JJ Hickson on the next play with the clock winding down on the quarter, but Rush missed a jumper at the buzzer. Still, the non-stars of the Warriors had constructed an 83-82 lead heading into the final frame. Barbosa had scored 11 of his 12 points in the third.
4TH QUARTER: Ran Out Of Gas
Ezeli stayed active, getting a blocked shot to start the quarter on Gallinari, who missed it point-blank, resulting in a shotclock violation by the Nuggets. Gallinari managed to get a foul call on a three-pointer where Rush bit on the fake and may or may not have warranted three free throws. Kerr was not happy with the call.
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Nelson drained a deep two-pointer, but Holiday answered back with a long, banker at which he smiled in admittance of the lucky shot. Later, with 9:28 to play and the score tied, 86-86, Kerr called timeout.
The Warriors scored once again out of a timeout, with Ezeli slamming home a lob.
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Holiday added a catch-and-pivot jumper, assisted by Livingston, then Ezeli blocked a Faried attack, and Livingston got a pull up jumper to “toilet bowl” in and it was 92-87, Warriors, with 8:06 to go.
Golden State stretched the lead even further, with a high-arcing finger roll by Barbosa followed by Holiday faking a jumper, then side-stepping to the deep right corner for a long jumper to make it 96-89 with 7:21 to play.
But the Nuggets went on a critical 14-2 run starting with a pull-up three-pointer by Nelson with McAdoo trying to close. Gallinari made a pretty elbow jumper wide open against McAdoo again. After Livingston picked up his dribble and got swarmed by Faried, forcing Livingston to call timeout, the Warriors had a 96-94 lead with 6:03 remaining.
Yet again after a timeout, Kerr’s designed play paid dividends as Holiday drilled his fifth trey from up top, as the play initiated with Livingston posting up Nelson on the right low block, then passing it out to “JustHolla” as McAdoo set a pick to free him up.
However, Holiday followed that up with a missed heat-check jumper and Foye got a step-back three to drop and the game was tied, 99-99, with 4:11 to go and the Nuggets gaining momentum.
Livingston then got his shot blocked from behind, after he underestimated Foye’s defense while shielding him off, dribbling into the paint, and Foye found Nelson for another deep corner two. McAdoo then charged into Gallinari.
Hunt called timeout and Chandler got a spin and a dunk out of the timeout. Livingston answered with his own dunk on a post-up, fake turnaround, and drop step against the smaller Foye, but Foye answered back with a wide-open splash from downtown as Livingston didn’t try hard enough to get out of the pick set by Faried.
That gave Denver a 106-101 lead with 2:36 to go and the bottom fell out for the Warriors after that.
Lee missed short in traffic and Chandler made Golden State pay with a swish on a fade-away after momentarily losing the ball in the paint. Down seven, Holiday found himself guarded by Faried on a switch, but lost the ball as he tried to dribble past the Nuggets’ big man. On the other end, Faried was fouled from behind by McAdoo and, although only one free throw dropped, Denver had an 8-point buffer at 109-101 with just 1:32 to play.
Barbosa missed a trey and Gallinari found himself with an open lane, finishing a drive with a two-handed slam and all of a sudden, it was 111-101, Nuggets. McAdoo would add another and-one, although he missed from the charity stripe, and Foye drilled yet another three from the top for the final score of 114-103.
Holiday led the Warriors with 23 points on 9-for-16 field, 5-for-7 downtown, while McAdoo went 6-for-10 floor for 16 points. Barbosa had 14 points and 9 assists, with Livingston scoring 12 points and dishing out 8 assists. Lee also finished with 13 quiet points and Green added 12.
Faried had 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Nuggets, Gallinari added 24 as well, and Foye had 20 points, 8 assists, while Nelson had 17 points, 7 assists.
The Warriors (51-13) will be at home against the Knicks in 24 hours on the second night of a back-to-back.
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