ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the San Antonio Spurs at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors held a 62-47 lead at halftime.
3rd Quarter – Steph Heat Checks
The Spurs got out to a fast start with a LaMarcus Aldridge fadeaway followed by a Kawhi Leonard triple, but the run was short-lived as Draymond Green tracked down his own miss for a putback, then he and Stephen Curry played “tic-tac-toe” with Green getting the pass from Curry while cutting down the lane, then Draymond finding Andrew Bogut with a bounce pass for a slam dunk:
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After getting past Tony Parker and nearly charging into Jonathan Simmons, Curry made two free throws on the call against Parker for reaching in, then Steph crossed over a switched Aldridge and made a runner to make it 70-54 with 8:52 to go:
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The Spurs took too long to get a shot off and Aldridge got called for three seconds in the key, and Curry made San Antonio pay as he made a crossover dribble from about thirty feet and launched a swish from deep:
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Even after Green fouled Leonard and argued with the ref to seemingly kill any momentum, Steph came back the next possession after that with a “heatcheck” three from the top, again from at least 27 feet, and the low arcing shot swished through to give the Warriors a 76-56 margin:
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Steph tried another heat check but missed a behind-the-back crossover pull, and Kawhi made him pay with another fade in the lane.
Green made two spin moves on the next sequence, the first drawing Tony Parker’s fourth personal foul, the second drawing an “and-one” make against Aldridge, but Jonathan Simmons answered with a right baseline dunk and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr continued his strategy of calling timeouts after any spark made by the Spurs, burning one as Golden State’s lead held at 19, 79-60.
Out of the timeout, Green found Brandon Rush open in the left corner for three…
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…and Aldridge made another bad pass to bring the Spurs’ running turnover total to 17,
Simmons decided he might as well give pressure one-on-one defense on Curry, and Steph took the challenge, going down the right side past Simmons, with an “and-one” foul on Aldridge as the scoop went in:
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Curry’s free throw made it 85-62, Golden State, with 4:42 left.
Later, Draymond went “tic-tac-toe” with Andre Iguodala to find Festus Ezeli underneath the hoop…
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…and Steph got his fifth steal of the night on a bad pass by Simmons.
Shortly thereafter, Curry got his scoop runner on the right side slapped away and he tried to make a layup in one motion on the catch of the deflection, but missed badly off the board. Fortunately, Ezeli was there to snag the rebound, but got his shot slapped away.
Festus dove for the ball on the right baseline and happened to find Curry in the corner, waiting for the catch-and-shoot three:
Ezeli delivers an unconventional assist on @NBATV! #NBARapidReplay #SASatGSW https://t.co/ygWoZFCp1t
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2016
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That’s exactly what happened and the Warriors took a 92-65 lead as Steph made is sixth trey in nine attempts, tallying 37 points.
The quarter ended uneventfully with Curry checking out before the buzzer, and the Warriors took a 95-66 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Garbage Time, Yes, Against The Spurs
The Warriors bench continued its strong play into the 4th quarter. The garbage time brought on Spurs bench giant Boban Marjanovic, who immediately made his impact felt with some physical play and a reverse jam in which he didn’t leave the floor.
Mo Speights, after a poor 1-8 shooting start, got his mojo going after returning for Harrison Barnes, who fouled out with just 4 points.
Speights knocked down a couple jumpers, including the Warriors version of the victory cigar, the 4th Mo 3pt make of the season.
He finished the quarter with 10 points, joined by Rush’s 10 in the quarter as well, helping the Warriors to win every quarter.
Steph’s final tally of 37 points came on 12-20 shooting, to go with 5 steals and 4 assists. The rest of the Warriors starters combined for just 30, but the bench had one of its most impressive games of the season.
Three players scored in double figures, including Livingston who made all 6 of his field goals to finish with 13 points.
The win was the Warriors 92nd! in a row when leading by 15 or more and their 39th consecutive home win. It also moved them back to 3 games up in the standings for the 1st seed in the Western Conference.
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