STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers took a 68-54 lead into the third quarter.
3rd Quarter – Curry And Green Atone For Earlier Mistakes
Draymond Green hit two three-pointers to start the third quarter, then Stephen Curry got a jumper and a layup
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Harrison Barnes added a step-back, and the Warriors had the Clippers’ lead whittled to 81-70 with 6:04 to go.
A 12-6 run aided by visits to the free throw line by Green, Festus Ezeli, and Curry helped trim the Los Angeles lead further, to 89-82 with 1:39 to play as Steph drained both free throws after some crossovers got him past Blake Griffin and body contact in the lane drew the whistle.
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Golden State played great team defense as Ezeli retreated and didn’t allow Griffin to past him on a left-handed attack down the lane. Griffin found Jamal Crawford in the left corner and, with Andre Iguodala closing out, Crawford’s shot hit the top of the backboard for a shotclock violation.
Curry couldn’t capitalize, after Ezeli freed him up with an open trey from the top, and on the other end, got matched up with Josh Smith on the block. When the help came, Smith dished to a cutting Wesley Johnson for a dunk.
The Clippers were back up by 9, 51-42, with less than a minute left.
Curry missed a three, Crawford missed a jumper, and with less than five seconds remaining, the unlikeliest of Warrior heroes, Ian Clark, who had subbed in for Klay Thompson, steamed the ball ahead, past Curry on the left side, and at the last moment found Green in the left corner for a three at the buzzer.
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Incredibly, Golden State has burned the Los Angeles lead to 91-85 at the end of the third period.
4th Quarter – Scoring by Threes
Harrison Barnes buoyed the Warriors’ attack to start the fourth quarter, which began with Iguodala at the point, Clark at shooting guard, Barnes, and Marreese Speights and Ezeli on the front line.
Iguodala started with a weave at the top and Barnes drained a triple out of it to get Golden State within one possession, 91-88.
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After a Crawford runner, Barnes came back with a strong left baseline reverse layup, then a triple from the top.
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With that, the Warriors closed to within 96-95.
But an Ezeli turnover led to a Chris Paul-to-DeAndre Jordan “Lob City” dunk, then Curry committed his sixth turnover of the game and Smith got a runout dunk with Speights chasing and nearly committing a touch foul at the rim.
Ezeli stopped Jordan at the apex of a jump hook, but Barnes made a move into the lane, then made an errant bounce pass inside that Ezeli couldn’t catch. Paul came down, pulled up, and nailed a three.
The Clippers had a 105-96 lead with 6:42 to play as Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton called timeout as his squad crossed halfcourt.
Out of the timeout, Curry got the ball on the left wing with Griffin switched on him, Steph gave him a right-to-left crossover, launched, and splashed a triple.
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From that point on was almost a three-point shooting contest, albeit initiated by critical Golden State turnovers.
Steph committed his seventh turnover as Paul took it away, raced up court to the left corner and, with Curry back for defense, zinged the ball into Griffin underneath the basket.
Ezeli did well to recover, meeting Griffin in the paint, but Griffin lasered the ball back to Paul in the same corner, and “CP” drilled the three to go back up by ten points.
Curry answered with his own three.
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Paul tried to answer right back, but bricked his trey attempt from the deep right wing over Curry. The ball bounded to Paul Pierce on the opposite wing and he pulled up and buried yet another three-pointer to back up, 112-102.
Green then attacked the middle and found Iguodala in the left corner then made a layup fed by Iguodala, and final Green did a mirror image of the original play to Iguodala, this time finding Andre in the right corner for yet three more points.
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Griffin couldn’t score inside, Barnes got the rebound, and on the other end, Thompson received a pass in the right corner, gave Paul an upfake, side-stepped left, and, still leaning left, got another three-pointer to go.
Miraculously, the Warriors had taken the lead with 2:42 remaining, 113-112.
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Crawford came back with a triple, but then Golden State had one of the plays of lunacy.
Green got caught in the middle with Jordan covering him. Draymond tried to pass the ball out to the corner, but DeAndre got his paw on the pass, deflected it, and Green leapt and tapped the loose ball way out to Curry beyond the arc.
Steph gave Paul an upfake, calmly took a step past him, and drained the trey, giving a mini-shimmy celebration in the process.
The Warriors snatched the lead back, 116-115, with 1:47 to play.
Paul missed a jumper and Iguodala found Green for a layup.
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Paul missed again, this time a runner, and Curry drove and drew Jordan’s fifth personal, canning both from the charity stripe.
The Clippers ended the game on a whimper as Pierce got a layup blocked by Green out of a timeout, Steph made free throws, and Griffin stepped out of bounds. The #LetsGoWarriors chant then begun:
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With the Warriors up, 124-115, Golden State conceded a layup to Paul and won, 124-117.
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