ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Orlando Magic (27-34) came to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors (55-6), a day after the Lakers surprised the Warriors with a blowout loss.
After reportedly receiving an IV for his illness, Draymond Green started for Golden State despite not participating in his usual pregame shooting routine. Andre Iguodala remained out for the third straight game with a hamstring strain and Festus Ezeli was still out with rehab for knee surgery. Kevon Looney was re-assigned from D-League Santa Cruz.
For the Magic, Victor Oladipo (lower back contusion) was listed as questionable. Nikola Vucevic was out (strained groin).
1st Quarter – Bogut Delights
Andrew Bogut opened up the Warriors’ first possession with a deflected pass, not a good sign as Golden State had committed 20 turnovers in the loss last night in Los Angeles.
Draymond Green followed suit the next possession. After a three from the top was missed by Victor Oladipo, Green slipped a screen with Stephen Curry, but promptly threw a cross-court pass into the sidelines above Joe Lacob’s head with a “just a little bit outside” pitch.
But Curry came back with consecutive buckets, a three after zig-zagging through the in-transition Magic defense…
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…and a right side runner off bank. Later, he drilled another triple off a curl, the pass delivered by Green.
Still, Klay Thompson remained cold, as he missed a left corner three, then a right baseline fade in early offense after Bogut brought up the ball and made a little nifty behind-the-back dribble to shake Jason Smith at halfcourt.
Bogut committed the Warriors’ fourth turnover, however, as his entry pass got knocked away by Smith. The ball went to Oladipo, who found Aaron Gordon for a reverse layup on the fast break.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Magic took a 10-9 lead with 7:31 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Kerr got Klay going, with a right side jumper assisted by a Bogut “hike”…
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…then after Gordon soared in for a dunk after Steph missed a left corner trey, Thompson launched again, this time from the right arc and enabled by an off-ball pick by Bogut, assisted by Green.
Klay wasn’t done, as Draymond followed that up with another assist for a layup.
Although Green made his third turnover on a bad pass, Bogut eventually ended the sequence with a dunk from the right baseline, fed by Curry, and Orlando head coach Scott Skiles took a timeout with 5:03 to go as the Warriors pushed ahead, 18-12.
The onslaught continued for Golden State, however, with a trademark “play of lunacy”, after Bogut blocked two straight attacks by Elfrid Payton.
Curry saved the second swat from the baseline, the Warriors made five passes before Draymond got the ball again, glimpsed Bogut open near the bucket, fired the ball into him, but Bogut took his eye off the ball and fumbled it.
Before the Magic could figure out what was going on, Bogut tracked the ball down, saw Steph waiting wide open from the right arc, lasered him the ball, ran past him with his finger up, running to the backcourt to play defense, while Curry launched and swished the triple:
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That put the Warriors up, 24-12, just like that.
Brandon Rush lit up the Magic to end the quarter, with a baseline dunk with 31.8 seconds to play, then a three dished by Marreese Speights from the middle, with 2.9 seconds to go.
Golden State took a commanding 31-18 lead after one period. Curry led the way with 11 points, while Thompson added 7 points. Green had 6 rebounds and 4 assists while Bogut added 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
2nd Quarter – Klay Finds Groove
The Warriors’ bench unit let the Magic back in the game at the start of the second quarter, as Dewayne Dedmon started things off with a dunk and backup point guard Brandon Jennings followed up with a three, then drew three foul shots beyond the arc on a hack from Ian Clark:
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Jennings then banged in a long two to pull Orlando to within 34-30 with 8:02 to play, but Clark soon atoned for his early miscue.
Thompson missed a right wing stepback, but Clark chased down the long rebound, drove the left baseline, and gave the ball to a cutting Shaun Livingston, who hit the short runner.
Then after a Dedmon miss, Livingston got the rebound, dissected the Magic defense in transition, and found Clark for a reverse layup. Gordon’s pass went into Klay’s hands, Thompson outlet to Clark, and Clark gave it right back to Klay for a layup, and the Warriors pulled ahead again, 40-30, with 6:24 left as Skiles took another timeout.
Gordon and Livingston traded dunks…
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.@ShaunLivingston shows post moves on @csnauthentic. pic.twitter.com/ZJsed2QflB
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… and Klay found his groove again, drilling another triple, then getting a dunk down the left side fed by Bogut out of a timeout.
Gordon and Livingston traded dunks and Klay found his groove again, drilling another triple, then getting a dunk down the left side fed by Bogut out of a timeout.
Later, Barnes found Thompson for a left wing triple, Evan Fournier struck back with an “and-one” down the left side over Klay, but Curry hit this step-back three:
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Steph added a banker after another tap-out by Bogut on a missed three by Thompson, then Klay got a dribble-and-pop jumper to fall, to go up 59-46.
After Oladipo missed a layup, Curry brought the ball up and was fouled at halfcourt, with one foul to give, a smart play by the Magic. Kerr called timeout, drew up a play for Steph, Curry got the ball at the edge of the center court logo, but missed the heave off board.
The Warriors took a 59-46 lead at halftime, led by Klay with 19 points while Curry tallied 14 points. The #SplashBrothers were a combined 14-for-25 from the field, 7-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Green was still at 6 rebounds, 4 assists, as he was subbed out under four minutes to play in the second quarter by Rush, but Bogut was up to 7 rebounds, 4 assists.
Jennings led Orlando with 10 points off the bench and Smith added 9 points. Gordon had 7 rebounds and Payton had 4 assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @donjoslin)
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