ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Phoenix Suns at the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State took a 55-44 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Starters Flat, Barbosa Provides Energy
The Suns came out focused in the second half, drilling five of their first six shots. Stephen Curry answered back with a pull up and a trey, but also committed his fourth turnover on a ill-advised lefty sling pass to the right elbow for Klay Thompson.
After PJ Tucker drew a foul on Curry on a drive, free throws closed the gap for the Suns to 60-59, but Andrew Bogut got a tip-in of a Harrison Barnes runner that went to hard off rim, against the smaller Suns lineup. Then Klay blocked a drive by Eric Bledsoe and Barnes led the break to find Curry for an open jumper on the left side. Curry had setup for a triple but Barnes’ pass was short and Steph simply drained the shot inside the arc.
That made it 64-59, Warriors, with 6:48 to play and Suns coach Jeff Hornacek called timeout.
The Warriors followed that up with sloppy play, as Leandro Barbosa forced up a turn-and-shoot three that airballed, then Andre Iguodala made a jump pass to James Michael McAdoo that sailed into the sideline seats.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 2:29 remaining with the Warriors up just 70-67.
The bench unit would right things up, as Shaun Livingston got a slam putback of a missed trey by Barbosa, then Barbosa atoned with a splash from the deep right elbow.
Barbosa got Oracle on its feet as Livingston was blocked by Brandan Wright, but Wright’s touchdown pass was foiled by Barbosa putting his body between the man and the ball, stole it, came back, blew by the first perimeter defender with a behind-the-back dribble, then got an and-one at the rim from the left side.
However, Barbosa missed the free throw and the Warriors took a 77-71 lead into the final frame.
4TH QUARTER:
McAdoo continued his great play off the bench with a two-hand slam assisted by Andre Iguodala. Marreese Speights pushed McAdoo on the way back in celebration.
But Eric Bledsoe answered with a nifty and-one flip shot which was answered by an Iguodala trey after he surveyed the situation up top vs PJ Tucker and decided to launch.
The Warriors had an early 82-74 lead with 10:55 to play.
After TJ Warren got a backdoor cut rewarded by PJ Tucker, Speights got called for a bad screen and Kerr picked up a technical foul.
Livingston executed a beautiful crossover and penetrated to the paint to find McAdoo with another layup. Iguodala then drew a post-up charge on Markieff Morris and Speights motioned for Oracle to get up on its feet.
Hornacek called another timeout at the 9:15 mark with the Warriors up, 84-76.
After Bledsoe penetrated and found TJ Warren for an easy layup, Markieff Morris swished a fade-away desperation shot from the left elbow at the shotclock buzzer.
It was just 84-82, Warriors, and Kerr called timeout to bring back Curry and Thompson.
The remainder of the game saw both teams punching and counter-punching. Warren provided a spark for the Suns, getting an and-one reverse layup after stealing a bad pass by Iguodala, Andre’s fourth turnover.
But Klay answered with a swish from the right elbow as Steph drove the right baseline, Warren hit a pull-up against Speights, Speights then got a slip layup going pick-and-roll with Thompson, and Warren made yet another and-one as Curry committed his fifth turnover, bouncing the ball behind Speights’ cut.
The Warriors tightened their defense, but after Curry splashed a three from up top in transition over Bledsoe and Tucker to make it 91-89 Warriors, Tucker made an improbable trey from the left side as Klay closed out on a Bledsoe drive-and-fade, but Bledsoe found PJ open at the last possible moment.
Speights made a right baseline jumper, but Goodwin answered back with a nice Euro-step move on the left baseline for a layup. McAdoo drew fouls as he side-stepped to avoid a charge on an attack, but he missed the second free throw.
Bogut came back in and Curry made a costly turnover as Bogut posted in the right block against Tucker. Tucker easily stole the errant entry pass, Steph’s sixth turnover of the night, and Bledsoe eventually got a three over the switched Bogut as Bledsoe calmly surveyed the situation as the shotclock wound down.
But after Thompson missed a right elbow trey off rim, Tucker pulled up over Bogut, back-rimmed it, and Chef Curry got cooking with a trademark in-transition trey to make it 98-97, Suns, with just 1:49 remaining.
Warren continued his great play, getting a strong move against David Lee to fall on the right side, but Thompson came back with a nice drive in the lane, shifting sideways to avoid the charge and drawing the two free throws, which he made, to make it 100-99, Suns, with 1:20 left.
But Warren was unstoppable as he spun in the right block over Iguodala, Warren’s 16th and 17th points on 8-for-11 floor. Chef Curry predictably tried a three on a pivot-and-launch but missed off rim. The Suns were up 102-99 with just 1:01 remaining.
The hot Warren took a heat-check right elbow jumper that was off. Curry got the rebound, pushed it forward, passed to a curling Klay, who took a dribble backwards and got the step-back three-pointer to fall over two Suns. It was 102-102 with just 34.7 seconds to play.
But Tucker found himself iso’ed by Bogut, took him left baseline, and got the reverse layup to put the Suns up, 104-102, with just 26.6 left.
The Warriors went with Curry setting the table and he found a seam down the right side of the lane, but the banker was too hard. Bogut tipped it, but also missed too hard and, with the luck of the ball bounce, Harrison Barnes found the ball in his hands wide open at the free throw line.
He could’ve taken the shot, but he attacked to draw the foul, no call, and Bogut got another offensive board, found Klay up top, who cocked, dished to Curry who snuck out wide open beyond the arc on the right elbow, and Chef Curry drained the triple, causing #Roaracle’s roof to blow.
Hornacek called timeout, moved the ball to halfcourt, and ran a play for Bledsoe, who took it past Thompson for a reverse layup as Barnes couldn’t get there in time for the help. Suns up, 106-105, with 4.5 remaining.
On the ensuing timeout and inbound from halfcourt, Steph was covered well on the perimeter, tried an cut to the hoop, but Speights didn’t deliver it with the smothering defense of Bledsoe, so Speights found Barnes on the left side, who dribbled in hard with his left shoulder into the paint and his floater trickled in with 0.4 seconds left.
The Suns had no more timeouts and Tucker’s desperation heave from 90 feet was not close and the Warriors escaped with a 107-106 win.
Curry led all scorers with 28 points on 10-for-22 field, 6-for-11 downtown, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 turnovers, while Klay added 16 on 6-for-14 shooting, 2-for-7 beyond the arc. Speights added 12 off the bench on 6-for-12 field.
Phoenix had six players in double-figures, led by Bledsoe with 18 while Warren and Markieff Morris added 17 apiece.
The Warriors (62-13) travel to Dallas in two nights.
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