ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Utah Jazz (0-1) at the Golden State Warriors (1-0), Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Q3: Momentum Lost And Gained
The Jazz got out of the gate on the right foot, drilling two threes and, although Klay Thompson hit a three to answer, and Warriors head coach Mike Brown took an early timeout with 11:16 remaining, his lead trimmed to just 63-53.
That didn’t cure any of the symptoms, as the Warriors continued not to convert and Shelvin Mack lobbed to Rudy Gobert for a reverse finish, Rodney Hood hit a dribble-and-pop after Stephen Curry threw the ball away, then was short on a scoop.
Utah was back in business, down just two possessions at 63-57 with 9:54 to play.
Draymond Green then missed a wide-open three up top on a catch from Thompson, but Hood missed a triple and Klay found Green down low on a mismatch with Mack, and he converted to break the tide.
Golden State stepped up its defense, Curry getting a steal on Gordon Hayward, then Mack, drawing a foul on Hayward on the take that Steph tried to sell as a shot as he did anticipate the contact, and after Kevin Durant took a defensive rebound the length of the floor for a left-side righty scoop at the last moment, Curry forcing a jump ball with Mack.
Andre Iguodala came in to go “Death Lineup” in replacing Zaza Pachulia and he promptly knocked out a drive by Hood, bolted for the front court while Draymond picked up the loose ball, and caught the touchdown pass from Green, feeding a trailing Durant with a behind-the-back pass for a dunk:
[protected-iframe id=”abb8c300947b05acad000e7a2d7906c0-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F860345886114697216″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]That push gave the Warriors some breathing room as they took a 71-58 lead with 7:48 to play.
Later, Thompson missed a three, but Steph stole the rebound from Mack and drew a trip to the foul line as he fell to the floor on a reverse scoop try in the same motion.
Despite a clear-path call on Curry trying to stop a break on a tap-out rebound near half-court by Hayward, plus a Hayward triple over Draymond at the top, plus a Gobert dunk via another lob by Dante Exum, the Warriors responded as Klay hit a fly-by trey delivered by Steph.
After a missed scoop by Curry and a missed three by Hood, Thompson had the ball on the left wing and found a cutting Green, who attack Gobert’s body, drew the foul, and hit the layup, but missed the bonus free throw:
[protected-iframe id=”75504926479324e25211cdbeefdd2a78-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F860347669171941377″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]That was Gobert’s fourth personal and the Warriors found themselves up by a comfortable 80-66 cushion with 4:49 to go.
Durant drew two free throws on a two-hand dunk attempt that got fouled, thanks to a push by Draymond…
[protected-iframe id=”09f3efc3c0450187ce4d43f90dc410e1-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F860348045967347712″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]…Hayward continued to hit clutch shots, but Boris Diaw missed a three late in the shotclock, and Durant found Shaun Livingston who found Curry at the left arc for three, forcing Jazz head coach Quin Snyder to call timeout with 2:54 left and the Warriors up, 85-70.
Steph struck again from distance over Derrick Favors as he played tic-tac-toe with Iguodala and Livingston…
[protected-iframe id=”0800c334d9de62aa6fd1f6e27f14a741-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F860350306189590529″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]…but Raul Neto answered with a three as well and after another Hayward bucket, Livingston dished to Matt Barnes, who gave a touch pass to Iguodala for a jam:
[protected-iframe id=”5d7d1cc507334feff42c33d3e5db5df2-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FKNBR%2Fstatus%2F860350450851119104″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]After Neto drew free throws against Curry, Barnes went down the lane and tossed in a runner with 0.9 seconds left, thinking he got fouled but with no whistle, and the Warriors took a 92-82 lead into the final frame.
Q4:
[coming soon!]Clark layup 94-82
Consecutive misses by Jazz
Clark 3 97-82
Timeout Jazz 10:16 left 97-82 Warriors
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/860352658443345920/video/1
West with a great strip of Gobert,Dubs unable to convert on other end
Hayward with a 3 97-87
Injury timeout Dray oo ground hit knee to knee with Gobert out of game
After a Jazz miss KD fouled by Hayward makes both 99-87
Hayward fouled by Thompson missed 1st and 2nd freethrow 99-88 Dubs
Durant answered with long 2 101-88 GSW
Exum missed 3 KD long rebound fouled by Exum Dubs in the bonus the rest of the way at 6:06
KD made 1 of 2
Exum answered with 3 102-91 Dubs
Warriors turnover Exum was fouled by Sdot
Dray back in Exum made both ft’s 102-93
Curry long 2 104-93
Gobert scored on a put back 104-95
Sdot missed on turnaround over Mack Jazz missed on other end,
KD fouled on lob from Dray fouled by Exum
KD made both 106-95
Gobert missed Dray rebound
Steph bank 3 made 109-95
Hayward answered w a 3 109-98 Dubs
3 sec violation on Sdot
Officials TO 2:52 mark
Warriors leading 109-98
Out of TO Hayward with turnaround 2 109-100
Warriors missed Hood made a 2 109-102
Warriors came back with an Iguodala dunk assisted by KD
Jazz called timeout at 1:45 Warriors leading 111-102
Hood missed KD missed a fall away
Gobert missed chippy on pass by Hayward
Iguodala missed 3
KD fouled he made both ft’s 113-102
KD fouled by Gobert again made both ft’s 115-102
Dray fouled Mack who made both ft’s 113-104
Final 115-104 Warriors take a 2-0 lead in the series, 6-0 in the playoffs,
Series shifting to Salt Lake City Game 3 Saturday 5:30 pm
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