This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors held a 62-49 lead at halftime.
Q3: Consistent Work
Both teams came out of the halftime gate hot, as Kevin Durant got a three and a jumper matched by a pair of triples from Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.
Durant drew three shots on Gasol’s fourth personal from the left corner, and the Warriors kept the Grizzlies at bay early on, 70-57.
Memphis head coach David Fizdale wasn’t happy with the call and got ejected:
[protected-iframe id=”0222359a1dedbd366bce9fb3af62b3d1-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FDrewShiller%2Fstatus%2F830245554068156417″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]After Stephen Curry nailed the two technical free throws, Klay Thompson missed a triple from the right corner and JaVale McGee flew in and jammed home the rebound with both hands:
[protected-iframe id=”bd2f5ff8570a265aeaee7e754c7b3731-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F830245946248331265″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]Grizzlies assistant coach Keith Smart took a timeout in Fizdale’s absence, with 8:45 remaining and the Warriors’ lead up to 74-57.
Out of the timeout, Conley finagled an and-one on a Curry reach, but Durant answered with a three from the right side, then after another Grizzlies miss, Draymond led the break and left a drop pass for Steph, who converted with the lefty.
Later, Thompson flicked an alley-oop to McGee…
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But Zach Randolph beasted down low again as he did in the first half, getting an offensive rebound over Klay, catching a laser from Conley inside for two more, and finally hitting again at the rim on a feed by Gasol, going past Kevon Looney.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr didn’t like what he saw and took a twenty-second timeout.
Out of the timeout, Thompson kept the Warriors humming, trickling in a jumper, then after Draymond recorded his eighth steal of the night, Andre Iguodala found Klay deep on the right arc with a hand-off, and Golden State’s lead increased to 91-67 with 3:50 to go.
After two straight buckets by Memphis, Thompson hit again, iso’ed on the right baseline against Toney Douglas, Curry found a cutting Iguodala, then drew Gasol’s fifth personal on an attack into the lane.
With an anti-climatic ending to the third stanza, the Warriors took a 98-77 lead into the final frame.
Steph also had a reverse “dunk” that didn’t count as Iguodala was fouled during the initial break:
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Klay was hot to start the fourth, hitting off a curl, then this deep triple:
[protected-iframe id=”dae11b1b7eff1220993c75a16215840e-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F830252511873245184″ width=”550″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Smart took another timeout, but Thompson was already at 33 points scored in just 30 minutes played.
James McAdoo was re-inserted and got an offensive rebound of Shaun Livingston’s miss, then blocked Allen.
After a timeout, McAdoo played give-and-go for a dunk from Thompson, plus the foul…
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KD then dished for another Klay right-wing catch-and-shoot, giving him 8 treys on 13 attempts.
Thompson would miss a heat check from deep straightaway after that, subbing out for the mop-up crew approaching seven minutes left.
The Grizzlies made a mini-run, though, and pulled to within 110-93 with 6:13 remaining as Kerr took a timeout.
Green found Durant for an and-one, then on a spin move by Gasol, Draymond got his ninth swipe of the night, a Warriors franchise record, outlet to KD, who found Iguodala for a dunk.
But Allen hit free throws, Durant threw the ball away, and Conley found James Ennis for a trey in transition, and Kerr called timeout with 4:00 to play as the Grizzlies cut the lead down to 115-101.
Out of the timeout was a sequence of empty possessions, yet Draymond got his fifth block of the night on a Gasol offensive rebound, then JaMychal Green tried to drive past him and Draymond picked him clean yet again, for his franchise-record 10th steal:
[protected-iframe id=”a07e1ad8b8f24c32d190e3581b44a036-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F830258710500958210″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]It was also the first time any player had racked up 10 thefts in a game since Brandon Roy in 2007.
Shortly thereafter on a foul drawn by Durant, Kerr emptied the bench, bringing in Briante Weber, Ian Clark, Patrick McCaw,Kevon Looney, and Damian Jones for the remaining minute-plus.
Weber had an impressive change-of-pace Euro-step on the break for an and-one.
The Warriors (45-8) ended the game with the final score of 122-107 and flew immediately after the game to OKC for Durant’s return to Chesapeake Energy Arena in less than 24 hours.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @qaishaider)
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