The Golden State Warriors (32-2) were at Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers (8-27).
The Warriors were without Leandro Barbosa (shoulder) and Kevon Looney (hip surgery rehab). The Lakers were without Kobe Bryant (shoulder) and D’Angelo Russell (sore throat).
1st Quarter – Chef Thompson With The Klay-Pot
Klay Thompson got off to another strong start against his dad and Laker radio color commentator Mychal Thompson’s team, with nine points in the first six minutes, including this first play of the game:
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Brandon Rush also added a three:
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Later, Thompson added a pretty “Statue of Liberty” one-handed reverse layup…
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…then drilled two more catch-and-shoot jumpers from the free throw line.
But after Draymond Green got blocked by Anthony Brown, Larry Nance, Jr. alley-oop dunk from Jordan Clarkson tied the game at 12-12 with 8:19 to go.
Klay continued his hot shooting after Rush hit another triple via Andrew Bogut…
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…and then Bogut Stephen Curry picked up their second personal fouls. Thompson got this in-transition three from Curry…
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…another catch-and-shoot trey delivered by a cross-court Green pass after Draymond rebounded a Laker miss, and a dribble stop-and-pop fade-away that gave him 17 points in seven minutes of play:
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After another Green rebound following a Clarkson miss, Thompson missed a heat-check catch-and-shoot from the deep right wing, but Nance missed, Marreese Speights got the rebound, outlet to Rush, who found Curry available from beyond the arc on the left side, good, after Curry showed with a triple-threat stance:
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That gave the Warriors a 28-18 lead with 3:50 to play and Lakers head coach Byron Scott took a timeout.
That did not stop Klay’s barrage, as he rainbowed a triple after Brown missed a three…
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…then screened his own man and that of Speights to open up a catch-and-shoot swish for “Mo”.
After that, Speights answered the favor with a nice lead pass that gave Thompson a layup down the right side and 22 points for the opening frame:
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Andre Iguodala added a steal of Nick Young with a run-out dunk and the Warriors took a 37-25 lead into the second quarter:
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2nd Quarter – Assisteses
Harrison Barnes got the start for the second quarter and made his first shot, then missed his second, while Curry added this pretty reverse conversion to give the Warriors a 41-27 lead:
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At the 8:44 mark, Jason Thompson (“JT”) subbed out Barnes.
Iguodala got iso’ed on the right side with Metta World Peace and swished a pull-up late in the shotclock, then after subbing out, celebrated this three by Curry:
LOL iggy taking a bow after a @StephenCurry30 3. @warriors @warriorsworld pic.twitter.com/WKYnjM8T2V
— Jacob (@jacobspinchella) January 6, 2016
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Curry then found JT underneath…
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…but also committed two straight turnovers that sandwiched another turnover from Thompson, and the Warriors found themselves up by just ten points, 50-40, with under five minutes to go before halftime.
After a Clarkson missed jumper, Green found himself iso’ed against Nance on the left wing with the shotclock winding down and went with this step-back (cough traveling) three-pointer:
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Bogut added a dunk on a slip…
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…then another dunk on a touchdown pass by Green, his fourth assist…
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…and Curry ended the half with a pick-and-roll pull-up trey off action with Bogut to take a 62-44 lead with 9.3 seconds to play.
However, Clarkson went up the court and drilled a straightaway triple at the buzzer, pulling the Lakers to a 62-47 deficit at halftime:
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Klay was stuck on his 22 points in the first quarter, shooting 9-for-16 field and 4-for-8 downtown, while Curry added 11 points on 4-for-9 field, 3-for-6 beyond the arc. Green tallied 5 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists. As a whole, the Warriors had 19 points on 26 made field goals, while holding the Lakers to just 33.3% shooting.
Clarkson led the Lakers with 13 points.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @jon.soohoo)
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