ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Game 2 of the opening round of the 2016 NBA Western Conference Playoffs, the Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 66-58 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Punch, Counter-Punch
To start the second half, Donatas Motiejunas had some trouble posting up on Draymond Green…
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…and even Klay Thompson…
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…but after getting a shot blocked by Patrick Beverley and taking a bad early three, James Harden found Dwight Howard for an alley-oop and the Rockets cut the Warriors’ lead to 71-67 with 6:54 remaining.
Both teams punched and counter-punched, with Thompson spinning past both Beverley and Josh Smith, but Smith came back with a clever behind-the-back drop to Howard for a righty lay-in, Andre Iguodala attacked and fed Andrew Bogut with a lob, Howard got a dunk on a pick-and-roll with Harden, and Klay cut to the hole, fed by Draymond Green with a high-off-board banker over the helping Howard…
Is that Steph Curry or Klay Thompson with the soft touch high off the glass, over the shot blocker? pic.twitter.com/WZ2NPHbbCQ
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) April 19, 2016
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…and Rockets head coach J.B. Bickerstaff took a timeout with 3:38 to play, Golden State holding a 79-73 lead.
Out of the timeout, Corey Brewer rattled home a trey, but Marreese Speights later got a left-side banker over Clint Capela.
After Harden drilled a stepback three at the top over Brandon Rush, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr put Klay back in with 28.2 seconds to go, Thompson drove hard from the right elbow after nearly losing the handle on a catch of a pass, and found Speights for the corner triple with 8.2 seconds left:
Mo Speights, mo' problems! @Warriors with the lead heading into the fourth quarter! https://t.co/HFDNRqtoxR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 19, 2016
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Incredibly, Harden didn’t get the call on the next launch at the buzzer from the deep right arc as Green flew by and seemed to come into contact with Harden, so the Warriors took an 86-79 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Veterans Close It Out
To start the last quarter, Brewer missed a shot and Dwight missed two free throws. Iguodala then found Leandro Barbosa with the backdoor cut who converted the acrobatic bank shot over Howard.
Harden got a step back jumper to go, Speights was called for an offensive foul and Terry got a pull up bucket. Barnes continued to struggle with his shot, Terry hit two free throws and Steve Kerr called timeout with 9:51 to go and the lead 4 in the favour of the Warriors.
Barnes missed another, Bogut blocked a Terry lay up, Harden missed a shot then Shaun Livingston hit the much needed pull up jumpshot to extend the lead to 5. Terry then missed a three and Barnes got into the paint where he was fouled by Howard – he made both free throws.
Klay then fouled Harden who split a pair of free throws and Draymond Green checked in for Iguodala. After looking like a broken play, Bogut found Klay Thompson cutting who attacked the ring and got fouled by Beverley, his fourth foul. He made both free throws.
Beverley missed a mid range jump shot then Harden and Ariza picked up consecutive fouls which put the Rockets over the foul limit. Bickerstaff argued to the ref and a technical foul was assessed. Klay made the technical free throw and the next two free throws to extend the lead to 11.
Bogut played excellent help defense on Ariza who missed the contested layup, Draymond Green brought the ball up the court then found Shaun Livingston who hit the tough lay up. The Rockets called timeout with the score 99-86 in the Warriors’ favour with 6:49 to go.
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Ariza banked in a shot from the foul line, Klay had to put up a long three pointer to beat the shot clock, which hit the front rim, Harden got a layup but then Draymond Green spun on Harden, got into the paint, and dunked it home.
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After a Houston miss, Howard picked up his 5th foul and Klay hit both free throws, making it a career high 12 free throw makes for Klay. Bogut blocked a Howard shot…
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…and moments later Howard fouled out – Green hit both free throws. The score was 105-90 with 4:13 left in the game.
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Beverley got a bucket, Klay split a pair of free throws, Beasley got a bucket then Andre Iguodala got a dunk and a layup on consecutive possessions which forced the Rockets to call a timeout. That gave the Warriors their biggest lead of 16 with 2:42 left.
Beasley got two buckets, Green split a pair of free throws, then Beasley got another to go with 45 seconds to go. Iguodala missed two free throws, McDaniels hit a three, Klay was intentionally foul and hit both, Terry hit a three but then Barnes hit two free throws to ice the game.
FINAL: Warriors (2-0) 115-106
Klay had 34 points, Draymond had 12-14-8, Livingston had 16 points and 6 assists, Iguodala had 18 points and Mo chipped in with 9 off of the bench.
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