This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Denver Nuggets.
The Warriors took a 64-55 lead into the second half.
3rd Quarter – Curry/Iguodala One-Two Punch
Stephen Curry had only 9 points at the half, so he got cooking early, with a step-back one-footed fade-away off the dribble from the left side, then this long two on a late-shotclock iso versus Danilo Gallinari:
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However, after Andrew Bogut drew a charge on Gallinari on the next possession, Curry missed a heat-check from the top of the arc the next time down.
But Steph got another triple, which was answered by Emmanuel Mudiay’s triple for the Nuggets, then after Thompson made a jumper and missed a jumper, Draymond Green got a trailing three from the top assisted by Andrew Bogut.
Denver head coach Michael Malone called timeout and Golden State had built a 76-67 lead with 7:46 to go in the third.
The timeout was well-placed, as the Warriors had a spell of uninspired, perhaps fatigued, play as Green threw a weak lob pass to Bogut that Bogut had to try and tap away unsuccessfully.
Curry stole a swing pass at the top nicely, but couldn’t muster enough energy to absorb the contact on the fastbreak, airballing a finger roll. Later, Curry got the ball knocked out while driving to the baseline and the ball went off his foot for his fourth turnover of the night.
Mudiay made a nice leaping putback after a miss over Festus Ezeli, then Ezeli charged into Nikola Jokic after a slip pass by Klay Thompson.
Barnes had had a beautiful driving and-one past Gallinari, but after an Andre Iguodala steal, Barnes went down the left lane, got hammered, but got no call.
During the timeout, Walton picked up a technical arguing the non-call.
Iguodala was brilliant to close out the quarter, first getting a steal on Will Barton as Barton got up in the air. Barnes ended up getting hammered on the fastbreak.
Iguodala then caught a risky cross-court pass on the left wing from Curry on the right wing, but saw Barnes open and delivered a two-handed Magic Johnson-like bouncer to Harrison for the throwdown dunk on the left baseline:
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That gave the Warriors a 83-73 lead, but Ezeli missed a dunk on a nice entry pass by Thompson, Shaun Livingston came in for Klay and asked Curry whom to guard and Steph told Livingston to cover the quicker Jameer Nelson instead of Randy Foye.
Shortly thereafter, Walton subbed out Curry and inserted Leandro Barbosa with 1:43 to go in the quarter.
Iguodala then moved his feet and forced a driving, fading, missed jumper by Mudiay, and Ezeli missed again at the rim on a nice alley-oop by Iguodala, but Barnes got the rebound and found Curry for a splash:
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Later, Iguodala came back with a three-pointer after Darrell Arthur got a dunk inside.
Malone went with “Hack-A-Zeli” to end the quarter, Ezeli missed one and made one, and Mudiay airballed a step-back three at the buzzer with the dynamic Iguodala draped over him.
The Warriors held a 91-79 lead heading into the final frame (of NBA history).
4th Quarter – Clark Spark
Walton went with Livingston, Ian Clark, Barbosa, Iguodala, and Marreese Speights to start the fourth quarter.
Clark got two consecutive layups thanks Iguodala with an assist then a steal, and Malone took a timeout as the Warriors’ lead increased to 99-84.
Clark blocked Foye layup attempt out of the timeout, then Speights got a putback of a missed Clark triple.
Speights came alive as Mudiay missed a layup, Green grabbed the rebound emphatically, started the break, and rewarded Speights for running the left lane with an easy lay-in as the Nuggets failed to play transition defense.
The Warriors had their largest lead at 103-84 with 6:15 to play.
Later, Curry was set to check back in, but Nikola Jokic missed a jumper, then Thompson found Barbosa for a three from the left corner in transition.
Nelson missed a jumper, then Green got a layup in transition assisted by Livingston, and Golden State had a commanding 108-87 lead as Malone called another timeout with 4:45 to go.
Walton had no need to reinsert Curry into the game, and Steph finished with 28 minutes played, 19 points, 7 asissts, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers.
The game ended with Clark, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and James McAdoo (in for Green) to close out the game.
All twelve Warriors who played, scored. Five Warriors scored in double-figures, led by Klay with 21. Darrell Arthur led the Nuggets with 21.
The Warriors (15-0) will face the Los Angeles Lakers in two nights at Oracle Arena to try and set a new NBA record for most consecutive wins to start a season.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @acareyl)
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