ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, the Memphis Grizzlies at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 62-51 lead into halftime.
3RD QUARTER:
Golden State, which shot 61.5% (24-for-39) from the field in the first half, continued their hot shooting out of the third quarter gates, as Harrison Barnes drilled a jumper, Stephen Curry waltzed by Nick Calathes for a reverse layup, and Klay Thompson penetrated the lane, to find Draymond Green for a trey from the left side.
Zach Randolph (aka “Z-Bo”), who led the Grizzlies with 16 points in the first half, assisted on two buckets for Memphis, one finished by Marc Gasol and the other a cut by Tony Allen, but Curry crossed Calathes beyond the arc on the deep right wing for a triple.
Steph went in for the kill, aided by a couple of Barnes offensive rebounds, finding Thompson on the break, but Klay missed the fly-by jumper. Barnes got the board and fed Curry, who missed a trey, then tried another on the next possession. Barnes got the rebound again, and Klay got the ball and converted a driving layup against Tony Allen.
Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger called timeout to stop the bleeding, as Golden State had taken a 72-56 lead with 7:55 to go in the third frame.
The Warriors kept their large double-digit cushion intact as Klay answered a Z-Bo jumper with a finger roll past Allen and Beno Udrih, who had checked in for Calathes.
About the only adversity the Warriors faced was Bogut and Draymond getting in foul trouble with 4 personals each. Both were questionable calls, as Gasol appeared to travel in the lane before drawing the whistle on Bogut, and Green tapped out the ball from Gasol on the baseline, surprising Gasol on the dribble, but referee Joey Crawford charged Draymond with his 4th.
With 5:37 to go, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr opted for David Lee off the bench instead of Marreese Speights, who had performed well in the first half.
Golden State’s lead hit twenty after Barnes boarded another Warriors miss, this time two of them by Lee, to find an open Thompson on the right baseline. Klay back-pedaled as he caught the pass from Barnes and drilled the corner triple.
After Festus Ezeli, who had checked in for Bogut, corralled a miss three by Udrih with the shotclock running down, Curry got the ball on the deep right wing, crossed Udrih from left to the right, then crossed the helping Randolph right-to-left, splashing another three-pointer.
That gave the Dubs an 80-60 lead.
“D.Lee” had trouble against the taller Gasol, with two more misses at the rim. With 2:02 to go, Kerr went back to the small lineup and subbed in Livingston for Lee.
Randolph, who had a game-high 20 points on 30 minutes played through the first 36, seemed to grow weary holding up the Grizzlies’ scoring end, reluctantly attacking Ezeli when no other Memphis players seemed to want the ball. The shot went too hard over Ezeli and Randolph fouled Andre Iguodala as soon as he made the defensive board.
On the next Grizzlies sequence, Ezeli swatted Randolph after another quick spin move, but Leandro Barbosa‘s crossover-stop-and-pop over Vince Carter clanged off rim and Randolph got the rebound but let the few ticks left in the quarter expire.
The Warriors took an 83-66 lead into the final stanza.
4TH QUARTER:
Speights started the 4th quarter and sparked Golden State yet again, drilling a jumper over Gasol from the top, assisted by Shaun Livingston, then drawing another foul on Gasol on nearly the same shot, then stealing a bad pass by Udrih trying to reach Gasol up top, and slamming home the run-out dunk with two hands.
With 8:07 remaining, the Warriors had a 91-73 lead.
But Jeff Green provided the lone energy for the listless Grizzlies, streaking down the court at every opportunity, scoring 7 points on various drives down the paint, soaring in transition over Speights who was attempting a charge, and another fast break layup after Andre Iguodala missed his fast break layup attempt.
The Splash Brothers kept the heat on, as Curry found Thompson on the right wing, cross court, after Allen missed a layup. Carter and Jeff Green were too late shifting over to the open Klay.
After a timeout, Thompson returned the favor, finding Steph open on the left elbow. Curry let Jeff Green fly by, although Green did well to recover and still challenge the shot from behind, but it was too late. The ball splashed through the hoop and Golden State had a 99-81 lead with 4:33 left.
Iguodala and Jeff Green traded bad pass turnovers, but Joerger had to call a mercy timeout after Iguodala’s steal of Green’s pass led to Thompson feeding Iguodala for a fastbreak layup.
The Warriors had the nails in the coffin, up 101-83 with 2:40 to play.
The game closed out in ridiculous fashion as Gasol made a terrible pass back out, stolen by Draymond, only to see the possession result in an airball three from the left corner by Thompson. Gasol answered that with a shotclock-induced miss from beyond the arc on the left wing, and Bogut even added a three-point attempt from his left elbow, also forced by a low shotclock, but Gasol blocked it and retained possession.
The lopsided game ended on a whimper and Golden State took Game 1, 101-86.
Curry led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting, 4-for-8 downtown, and 7 assists. His #SplashBrothers mate Thompson added 18 points on 8-for-16, while Draymond chipped in 16. Speights had 10 points off the bench.
Gasol led the Grizzlies with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 11-for-12 from the line, while Randolph added 20-and-9.
Game 2 is on Tuesday, 5/5/2015, back here at Oracle.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @simonemichele)
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