ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Memphis Grizzlies at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 68-46 lead into the third quarter as Klay Thompson had a blistering 37 points in the first half.
3RD QUARTER: Lead Grows To Thirty
Thompson took an early heat check, but his side-step three-pointer from the deep right wing, as Marc Gasol flew by, missed badly, hitting the left side of the backboard without drawing iron.
But the Warriors kept the pressure on the Grizzlies by making shots, as Stephen Curry drilled a trey from up top, Draymond Green got an easy layup as Curry wheeled around the perimeter off of a pick-and-roll, Andrew Bogut got a tip-in of a missed Harrison Barnes running jumper from the right baseline, and Festus Ezeli, who got an early substitution in for Bogut, got another easy layup on a cut fed by Barnes.
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Of course, Thompson topped things off with a catch-and-shoot trey from the right elbow, the ball “toilet-bowling” in good, and Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger called timeout with 6:35 to go in the quarter and the Warriors up by thirty, 82-52.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr inserted Marreese Speights after Beno Udrih drew an and-one foul on Curry at the 4:29 mark and the Warriors up, 84-55, but “Mo” was not in #MoBucket5 mode on this night, despite drilling his first jumper on a high post catch and dribble to the right baseline.
Steph added a trey from the right wing after a hand-off by Leandro Barbosa and Thompson exited the game to a nice applause from #Roaracle.
But Speights tried to draw a charge on Vince Carter but was moving on the play, then made a bad pass to end the quarter, as Nick Calathes made the ensuing fastbreak layup, assisted by Kosta Koufos.
Curry’s halfcourt heave went off bank too hard as the buzzer sounded, but Golden State kept their lead at nearly thirty heading into the final frame, up 93-66.
Thompson led all scorers with 42 points on 15-for-21 field, 8-for-10 downtown, as well as 6 rebounds, while Steph added 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, 3-for-6 beyond the arc, to go along with 8 assists. Draymond chipped in with 9 rebounds.
4TH QUARTER: Unfortunately, No Mercy Rule In The NBA
The bench unit got off to a good start, with Andre Iguodala finding Barbosa for a touchdown layup after a pass from Calathes went behind a cutting Koufos.
Later, Koufos rolled after setting a screen, cocked the ball as if to dunk it, but Harrison Barnes swatted the attempt. A Speights jumper went too hard from the right elbow and third-string point guard Russ Smith converted an and-one on the other end, putting his body into Barbosa to draw the foul.
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David Lee entered with under nine minutes remaining, Justin Holiday with under seven minutes, and Brandon Rush with under four minutes, to do the mop-up work.
However, the Warriors’ bench yielded an 11-0 run before Lee made one of two free throws to make it 101-86 with 3:03 to play. Jarnell Stokes then went down the lane for an emphatic dunk with two-thirds of the Oracle crowd already gone to beat traffic home.
The Grizzlies got things as close as 13 points, 110-106, with 13.7 seconds to play after Jordan Adams hit a triple over Holiday, as the bench unit shot a couple of airballs, Holiday made a silly foul while in the penalty on a Memphis fastbreak, the defense was generally porous and disinterested, Rush missed two of four free throws, and Shaun Livingston missed one of two.
Adams stepped out of bounds on the side inbound with 11 seconds remaining and the Warriors up, 111-106 after the missed free throw by Livingston, but Lee threw the ball to Stokes for a bad turnover and Rush fouled Stokes in the process. Stokes then made one from the charity stripe and the second missed with Ezeli and Adams giving chase with just 8.6 on the clock. The referees had to go to replay to determine who got the ball and the Grizzlies were awarded the ball after the review.
Adams missed a three with Lee closing out, being careful not to foul, and Holiday secured the rebound at the buzzer for the ugly final score of 111-107.
Roaracle remained dedicated, however, chanting, “Defense!” even with 36 seconds remaining.
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