HALFTIME RECAP WITH HIGHLIGHTS: Iguodala Sparks Separation, Stephen Curry Hot, Warriors Lead Wizards, 67-57

ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after defeating the Rockets at home, the Golden State Warriors (62-14) went for 11 straight wins and hosted the Washington Wizards (46-30).

The Warriors were without Kevon Looney (left hip strain), Kevin Durant (left knee MCL sprain, left tibial bone bruise), and Damian Jones (D-League assignment).

The Wizards were at full strength.

Q1: SplashBrothers Challenged By Wall And Beal

The #SplashBrothers came out hot, as both Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry buried triples out of the gate:

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After John Wall and Bradley Beal answered quickly, Curry added a catch-and-shoot swish from the left wing after Patrick McCaw missed in the paint, hustled to get his own rebound, and saved the ball from the sideline to Draymond Green at half court.

Green leaped and fed Steph for the splash…

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…and the Warriors took an early 11-5 lead.

Thompson made a bad pass that went to Bradley Beal, then Steph up-faked Marcin Gortat fooling him badly, and Curry capped off the move with a step-back triple from the left corner.

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The Wizards came back with three straight buckets before Zaza Pachulia hit a layup in transition and Green cashed in a on a runner, and with 6:23 remaining, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout with an 18-16 lead.

Later, Pachulia hit a jumper, then handed off to Steph for three more from the right wing, but Pachulia later got swatted by Gortat, withShaun Livingston putting back an uncontested two-hand lay-in, then Wall answered with a post-up against Curry and-one, and JaVale McGee made an impressive fade-away in the paint over Gortat.

Out of a timeout, Iguodala hit a jumper over Bojan Bogdanovic, Livingston went coast-to-coast for a strong banker versus Beal, and McGee got a put-back after Livingston’s lob to him went too hard off board.

Draymond got another bucket on the run thanks to an assist by behind-the-back from Curry, via steal by McGee, tapping the ball out of Brandon Jennings’ hands:

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The quarter ended with Steph getting the ball knocked out by Kelly Oubre with no call, Beal swishing from the left arc, and Green whistled for a walk as he had nowhere to go after nice interior defense.

At the end of one, Washington held a 35-30 lead.

Q2: Iguodala Sparks Some Separation

David West came in and immediately fed Iguodala at the rim…

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…and Wizards head coach Scotty Brooks called an early timeout after Ian Clark drained a triple to put the Warriors up, 40-32.

A few possessions later, Iguodala drilled a right corner trey fed by Klay, then got a run-out fouled by Brandon Jennings after getting a steal, and West scored from the left side against Kelly Oubre on a pass from Green.

With 6:35 to play, the Warriors held a 47-40 lead.

Later, Wall went too hard on a drive, Draymond led the break and found Livingston for a reverse two-hand jam:

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But Markieff Morris hit a three the other way and Kerr called timeout with Golden State’s lead trimmed to 53-46 with 4:15 to go.

But Washington caught up as Livingston couldn’t handle a close pass from Matt Barnes and missed a put-back slam of his own miss, Green got an entry pass deflected that Wall took coast-to-coast for a flash layup, and the Wizards were back in business, down just 53-50.

Beal swished a trey out of a double-team in the post on Beal versus Steph by Draymond, Barnes getting to the close out too late, but Curry hit a right-side, side-step triple as Klay drove in, dished back out to Green up top, and Draymond found Steph on a zip swing pass:

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Draymond then got a hand on a Beal lost ball, and Iguodala led the attack, sending a massive bounce pass back out to Curry for the splash:

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That gave the Warriors a 61-53 margin with just 1:23 left as Brooks called another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Curry got a layup goal-tended badly by Wall, who probably shouldn’t have tried to swat the ball on the probable miss, Iguodala fed a cutting Steph for an upfake-reverse layup…

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…but Wall answered with an insta-lob to Morris for an easy bucket, right after Curry missed a three.

Green got a dunk attempt fouled by Beal with 1.3 seconds remaining, made both free throws, and the Warriors took a 67-57 lead into halftime.

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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @micxmike)