HALFTIME RECAP WITH HIGHLIGHTS: Warriors Winning Battle Of Curry Brothers, Lead Dallas Mavericks 59-48

ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after holding off the Raptors, the Golden State Warriors (28-5) were back at #Roaracle for the second game during a stretch spanning nearly three weeks at home, to face ex-teammates Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes of the Dallas Mavericks (10-23).

The Warriors were without Patrick McCaw (flu-like symptoms) and head coach Steve Kerr placed him and Anderson Varejao on the inactive list. That meant rookie Damian Jones would be active and available off the bench.

The Mavs were without J.J. Barea (left leg muscle strain) and Bogut (rest).

Q1: Punch, Counter-Punch, Steph-v-Seth

Both teams traded buckets through the first six minutes. Deron Williams hit a triple and added a floater and a drive down the lane, turning the corner on a high pick-and-roll. Barnes also hit three shots.

But Golden State countered with a Stephen Curry corner three facilitated by Kevin Durant attacking the paint after Dirk Nowitzki missed a trey from the top, a Draymond Green coast-to-coast dunk after Williams missed a corner triple attempt…

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…and a Curry righty scoop down the lane.

Nowitzki then got an and-one on the high post against Steph, a touch foul, and Green scored again on an attack, and the Warriors held a slim 17-15 lead as Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle took the first timeout.

Out of the timeout Barnes hit a jumper, Seth Curry checked in to guard his brother Steph, Devin Harris hit a three-pointer, but Klay Thompson answered back with a triple of his own.

Steph hit a catch-and-shoot from Draymond on the catch from the right arc as Seth closed too late…

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…but Seth came back with a right-side banker after shedding Steph on a pick-and-roll.

The two brothers would have a nice chat or two later in the game:

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Steph followed that with his pick-and-roll with JaVale McGee, leading him with an overhead lob for a smash:

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But Green committed two fouls in a row, running through Dwight Powerll on a screen, to take a seat on the bench with early foul trouble, and with 2:05 to play, the game was knotted up at 25-25.

Seth deftly pulled up off another screen to rattle in a jumper, “KD” answered with a dribble-and-pop on the left elbow, then Steph hit a long two after Ian Clark stole a bad pass from Nowitzki, playing a little “hot potato” with Durant…

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…but KD threw away a lead pass to Clark in transition after boarding a missed three from Seth, and the game was still tied up at 29-29 heading into the second stanza.

Steph had 10 points on 4-for-7 field, 2-for-4 downtown in the first period.

Q2: Slight Separation

Clark had a nice drive near the start of the second frame, and Durant added a right-corner trey that toilet-bowled in, assist from Andre Iguodala, then added a dribble-and-pop after Iguodala got a steal.

Nowitzki had a savvy inside move, up-faking and finger-rolling with the lefty from the left block on a post against Shaun Livingston, but “Sdot” came right back with a jumper from the right baseline over Justin Anderson.

David West then trickled in a right-elbow “J” on a feed late in the clock from Clark, Dirk answered with a jumper, and West showed off some exquisite palming of the ball as Clark wheeled around, West faked a hand-off to him, then lasered a pass inside to Livingston for the reverse bucket.

West drew a foul on Harris down low on a dish by Livingston, and after the free throws, the Warriors had their first bit of separation, eeking out to a 46-38 lead.

Barnes answered with a jumper, West scored again on an up-and-under against seven-footer Salah Mejri, and after Klay and Wes Matthews each stripped each other of the ball, West committed a defensive three-second violation and Livingston headed to the locker room with a slight injury of some kind.

Out of a timeout, Green swished a three over Mejri from the left arc, assisted by Thompson, then Draymond attacked the paint and scored, giving Golden State a 53-41 margin as Carlisle called another timeout with 4:00 to go.

Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio was in attendance:

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Steph also had his left shoe and ankle brace off:

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Out of the timeout, Durant hit a three, Matthews, who was already hot after teammate Mejri traveled on an offensive rebound earlier, was hit with a technical, and Barnes and Klay traded jumpers.

Barnes hit a three on the catch from the right wing, Curry’s lefty drive past Harrison went too short off high board over Dirk, and Green passed up an open three, only to get it back from Steph, shanking the eventual shot.

Matthews made a nice “hesi” move iso’ed on the right side, and Kerr called timeout as the Mavs inched forward, 59-48, with 1:15 left.

Zaza Pachulia gave a nasty pick to Harris, but Thompson missed the pull-up, Nowitzki misfired at the shot clock buzzer, but Klay couldn’t find a tip from Draymond on the board, Seth got the o-reb, and Dirk missed at the buzzer on a nice fake up top.

Golden State held a 59-48 lead at halftime. Durant and Barnes had 14 points each, both KD and Green led the Dubs with 6 boards apiece, Steph tallied 4 assists, Durant had 5 assists, and Dirk and “D-Will” chipped in 11 points each.

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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @followingdreams)