ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Phoenix Suns at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a slim 60-56 lead into the third quarter.
3rd Quarter – Torched By Knight
The Warriors started off the second half nicely as Andrew Bogut cut to the hole after setting a pick for Stephen Curry at the top, drawing Alex Len out as Curry lobbed the ball to a leaning Bogut for the one-handed righty jam:
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But Len continued where he left off the previous half, hitting two straight jumpers again while Klay Thompson drilled a fly-by three in transition after Bogut got his fourth block of the game, denying Tyson Chandler at the rim, and Curry hit a dribble-and-pop three from the left arc.
Steph and Len both committed their fourth personals on successive plays, with Curry getting whistled on a defensive rebound against PJ Tucker and Len charging into Bogut.
But the Suns’ part of the double substitution took advantage as Mirza Teletovic came in, got a switch against Curry’s sub, Ian Clark, and drew a foul on the entry pass inside.
The Warriors were in the penalty and Teletovic made both free throws to tie the game at 70-70 with 6:53 remaining.
Clark then turned the ball over after crossing halfcourt, getting a jump-pass deflected, which led to more free throws for the Suns.
Things started to tip in the Suns’ favor even as Thompson drilled a baseline jumper. The only problem was, it was late in the shotclock and no one was rebounding, so the Phoenix defense was breaking through gradually.
Klay hit another jumper, but Brandon Knight answered with a three after first deciding not to shoot it on the catch. Little did the Warriors know, Knight’s torch was lit.
But before that, Devin Booker got an and-one on a fastbreak, using exquisite body control to make the leap over Harrison Barnes while drawing a foul.
After a Thompson miss, Knight went the length of the floor for a layup, then added two threes. On a switch, Booker took Green on the left side and stepped back for a swish, giving the Suns an improbable 89-80 lead with 2:01 remaining.
Marreese Speights got a post-up out of the timeout, but Knight came back with another three to put Phoenix up, 92-82, with 1:33 left, then with 7.4 seconds remaining, crossed over Klay for yet another pull-up triple to go back up by 10, 95-85. That also gave Knight 17 of his 20 points in the third quarter.
Green had a nice drive on the left side with 4.3 seconds to go, but missed the second of two free throws, and disrupted a Knight dribble at the buzzer, as the Suns took a 95-86 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – MoBuckets
Curry started the fourth quarter, but it was Shaun Livingston finding Speights on a cut, then hitting from the right baseline and throwing his hands up to get Oracle pumped. The Warriors were back in business, down just 95-90.
After Knight missed a rare jumper, Speights got the board, and Leandro Barbosa fed Steph in transition at the left wing for three:
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Suns head coach Earl Watson called timeout as Golden State chopped the lead down to 95-93 with still 11:02 to play.
Speights continued his hot shooting, catching and drilling a feed from Harrison Barnes, Livingston got an alley oop from Curry, and after Len answered with a running banker, Speights got an “and-one” against Len, his fifth foul, on a catch from Livingston. The bonus throw by Speights gave the Warriors a 100-98 lead with 8:53 left.
Klay then airballed a left baseline jumper, but Curry was under the hoop and managed to sneak in a reverse putback with Chandler lurking, but Knight came back with a scoop straight down the middle on porous Golden State transition defense.
Thompson missed an off-balance layup and Knight came back with another triple, but Klay answered right back about three seconds later, to put the Warriors back on top, 105-103, with 7:30 to go:
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Later, Knight and Curry traded threes once more, then Green deflected a three-point try from Teletovic, Curry missed a three over Chandler on an iso, but Ronnie Price couldn’t hit over Speights’ close-out, and Thompson turned an upfake into a drive that ended with a bouncing assist to Speights for a dunk:
Dish and dunk. Klay finds Mo on @csnauthentic. pic.twitter.com/Ji5H7cRePu
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) March 13, 2016
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With 4:41 left, Watson took a twenty-second timeout with the Warriors up, 110-108.
Out of the timeout, Len was short on his jumper, and Draymond eventually found Barnes down low with enough space for a two-hand jam. One sequence later, Green set a drag screen for Steph and Curry drilled a triple from up top as Oracle went wild and the Warriors pulled away, 115-108, with 3:23 remaining as Watson burned another timeout.
Golden State stopped Phoenix twice in succession, and made them pay twice more, with Draymond getting a strong lefty drive to go and Curry getting fouled on a reverse layup catch, after Barnes had rebounded an initial missed three by Steph.
Knight then got doubled right past halfcourt by Curry and Livingston, Livingston tapped the ball to Steph, and Curry led the break, feeding Livingston with a behind-the-back pass ending with a lefty slam to put the game in control of the Warriors, 121-110, with 1:33 to play, as Watson took another mercy timeout.
Curry got a drive down the right side to bank in, Teletovic answered with a long two, but the Suns ran out of time as Green missed an open three from the top, Teletovic’s three bounded off, and Thompson’s rebound was fouled with 18.4 seconds left.
The Warriors (59-6) eventually won, 123-116, preserving their home winning streak, as Curry scored 35 points on 12-for-24 shooting, and Speights added 25 points off the bench, on 10-for-14 field. Thompson chipped in 20 points and Draymond 19 points to go along with 6 assists.
Len led the Suns with 26 points and 13 rebounds, Knight had 30 points, and Booker had 18 points and 11 assists in defeat.
The Warriors will face the Pelicans in two nights at Oracle Arena.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @pastjohndk)
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