This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Brooklyn Nets.
The Warriors took a 57-54 lead into the break.
3rd Quarter – Chef Curry With The Remedy For Sluggishness
Golden State continued their sluggish play from the second quarter in the start of the third quarter.
Draymond Green split two pairs of free throws, while Jarrett Jack and Thaddeus Young got a jumpers to fall.
Young got two more buckets while Klay Thompson missed an open three in rhythm and off of a nice cut, then Thompson shot an airball on a dribble-and-pop.
Young got the iso on the left block against Green and took him into the paint for a sweeping lefty hook, and the Nets were up, 68-63, with 6:58 to go in the third.
But Klay came back with a side out basket assisted by Brandon Rush, as the Warriors ran interference between Stephen Curry and Thompson, allow Klay to sneak to the basket unmolested.
Young missed an open three from the left side, Green got the rebound, and went the distance for a finger roll in traffic with Jack and Young in his way:
draymond is also cool pic.twitter.com/VKIUs7AMHW
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) December 7, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
With the score 68-67, Nets, Brooklyn head coach Lionel Hollins took a timeout with 5:49 remaining.
Curry still couldn’t get going, although he did hit one three as he shook free on the left wing and Andrew Bogut found him…
watch larkin lol pic.twitter.com/q2FaD03dvD
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) December 7, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
…but that was sandwiched between two misses, the second of which was a fall-away trey attempt in the right corner, in front of the Nets’ bench, that Shane Larkin made the Warriors pay with a three from the left/top.
Green drew free throws on a near-50/50 call driving down the right lane and made both free throws and with 2:44 to go, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton called timeout with the Nets still up, 75-72.
Out of the timeout, Green cut through the lane and Thompson found him from the left side for a baby reverse layup, Festus Ezeli blocked Larkin’s attack, and Curry crossed Jack over right-to-left behind-the-back and got a finesse bankshot to drop as Steph’s momentum took him to the right baseline:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
After Young missed a left wing jumper, Ezeli got the rebound, outlet to Steph, and Curry stopped on the deep right wing and launched a triple. Hollins called timeout with the Warriors back up, 79-76, with 1:45 left.
Bojan Bogdanovic missed a three and, in transition, Ezeli snuck behind the Nets defense and Curry lofted him a perfect lob pass for a two-handed smash at the rim, uncontested:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Joe Johnson answered with a high left post turnaround swish, but Ezeli returned the favor on a post-up, finding a cutting Curry for a layup with a foul on Larkin in the process.
Steph’s free throw made it 84-80, Warriors, with 27.7 ticks remaining.
Jack missed a floater, Green got the rebound, and #StephGonnaSteph ensued as Curry got three on a catch-and-shoot from Green, Draymond’s seventh assist, with 1.9 seconds remaining, giving Steph 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Warriors took an 87-80 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Bench Unit Rises Up
The bench unit atoned for its poor play last night in Toronto, as they shrugged off an early three by Bogdanovic and free throws by Brook Lopez with an onslaught.
Marreese Speights made a jumper, Ezeli went through the lane off a rare dribble attack, Shaun Livingston drilled a midrange J, and then Livingston found Leandro Barbosa open for three as he shed Larkin off a pick from Speights.
Hollins called timeout with 9:44 remaining and the Warriors had taken a 96-85 lead.
The lead stretched further as Speights converted an “and-one”, Andre Iguodala added a jumper, Ezeli swatted Young on the right side of the bucket, then asserted his athletic dominance, grabbing an offensive rebound with one hand after Iguodala missed a contested three from the left wing.
That led to another trey from Barbosa, this time from the left corner, again assisted by Livingston, and Hollins had to call another timeout to stop the extra bleeding as Golden State went up, 106-89, with 6:01 to go:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Curry celebrated on the bench:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Warriors bench had outscored that of the Nets, 19-0, at one point.
With 3:00 to go and the Warriors up comfortably, 109-92, Brandon Rush checked in for Curry, who finished with 28 points on 11-for-17 field, 5-for-9 downtown. Barclays Center gave Curry a standing ovation:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Rush found himself in front of some matador defense, so he drove into the lane from the left wing, lost the ball off his foot, recovered, dribbled to the right wing and drained the three from there, giving the Warriors a 112-92 lead.
Bogdanovic scored an easy finger roll and Walton called timeout to bring Jason Thompson, Barbosa, and James McAdoo in for Klay and Draymond.
After garbage time, the final buzzer sounded with the final score Golden State 114, Brooklyn 98.
Young tallied 25 in defeat for the Nets, Green racked up 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Thompson chipped in 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting and 3-for-10 beyond the arc. Ezeli had 12 and Barbosa 11 off the bench.
The Warriors (22-0) head to Indianapolis to face the Indiana Pacers in two nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @farbod_d)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
