This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Atlanta Hawks.
The Warriors took a 58-39 lead into the third quarter.
3rd Quarter – Hawks Go On An Extended Run
The Warriors kept doing what they do best to start out the third quarter, with Klay Thompson “toilet-bowling” a triple, plus the expected unorthodox Stephen Curry play.
Dribbling down the left side against Jeff Teague, Curry found himself doubled by Paul Millsap. Millsap attempted to take a charge and probably should have gotten the call, with Steph putting his shoulder into Millsap’s chest, but there was no call.
After Millsap went to the floor, the left side was wide open for Curry, and he re-gathered himself, took a jump stop, and went with a reverse banker flip shot to put the Warriors up by twenty, 65-45.
Later, Andrew Bogut re-fed Steph with a reverse-between-the-legs pass that Curry turned into a layup down the right side:
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But later, Draymond Green made a bad pass that led to an Al Horford jumper and Steph made a terrible sling pass to the wing that went into the stands, then missed an early three, and a Tim Hardaway, Jr. jumper on the other end capped a 13-0 run that brought the Hawks back to respectability, 70-60.
Still, Curry made another incredible shot as Green gave a lead bounce that Leandro Barbosa got in the way of. Somehow, Steph managed to catch it despite the confusion of who it was for and stopped and popped a one-legged jumper.
But the Hawks kept chipping away as Mike Scott got past his man, forced Curry to choose between him and Thabo Sefalosha in the right corner, and delivered to Sefalosha who drilled a three from the corner, and Golden State’s lead was down to single-digits, 72-63, with 3:39 to play.
After Green shanked a triple attempt, Dennis Shroder lobbed a one-handed smash by Al Horford and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout to stem the tide as Atlanta pulled to within 72-65 with 3:13 to go.
Out of the timeout, Andre Iguodala missed a jumper, Hardaway went past Barbosa for a banking runner, but Curry went behind-the-back to Draymond, who lobbed the ball to Iguodala for a dunk.
Shroder took charge and made a three off a pick-and-roll that shed Curry, but Steph came back on the other end with a righty reverse layup catch to give him 27 points and put the Warriors back up, 76-70.
Shroder wasn’t done, though, and he drilled a jumper in response, Curry went down the right side and took a bad, one-legged, fading shot with three Hawks in the vicinity, but Atlanta couldn’t capitalize as Scott’s triple went in and out.
However, Green’s layup down the middle got him caught too far under the hoop and Shroder drilled another three to pull the Hawks to within 76-75 with 48 seconds to go.
Iguodala airballed a three too hard, Shroder tried a 27-foot two-for-one triple over Curry but missed, but Brandon Rush’s three fell short off the rim for the Warriors.
Shroder came down, flipped it to Sefalosha on the right side, and he drilled the jumper, but the refs reviewed it and determined the shot came after the red light and buzzer.
The Hawks had climbed back to a 76-75 deficit at the end of three quarters.
4th Quarter – Hawks Can’t Comeback Again
Another dunk by Horford got the Hawks off on the right foot and Sefalosha followed with a triple, but Thompson came back with a three after a bad gamble by Sefalosha which left Shaun Livingston wide open, who easily found Klay in the corner:
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Livingston then got a pull-up to drop, Thompson added another three, and the Warriors played “tic-tac-toe” with Green to Bogut to Klay for a reverse layup, and Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer called timeout as the Warriors took an 86-82 lead with 7:21 to play.
Out of the timeout, Bogut made a tremendous block of Millsap’s two-hand slam attempt:
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Later, Sefalosha got his layup blocked by Bogut and Thompson took advantage with a scoop down the right lane, then Curry checked back in and promptly drained this pivot-and-launch from the left corner after a steal by Draymond:
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Steph turned and gave a shimmy in front of the Hawks’ bench:
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It was Curry’s fifth trey of the night and also gave him 30 points, putting Golden State ahead, 91-84, with 4:42 left.
Bogut stopped Teague’s layup this time, but the Warriors couldn’t convert as Livingston made a bad pass, then Curry’s three went in and out. However, Shroder’s pass got picked by Bogut and he found Curry on the outlet for the finger roll the other way:
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That made it 93-84, Warriors, with 3:16 remaining. The Hawks were running out of time.
Green made a great defensive play, switching on a high pick-and-roll involving Hardaway and Shroder, which forced Hardaway into losing the ball on the left sideline. It was the Hawks’ third turnover in four possessions.
Out of a timeout, Curry went down the right side for a layup, capping a 9-0 run by the Warriors, and Steph swung his arm in celebration.
Shroder went with an “and-one” high off the backboard, Horford commited a “Hack-A” foul on Bogut, but Bogut made the first and missed the second.
Atlanta committed a shotclock violation, then Curry went pick-and-roll to Green, who lobbed to Bogut for a one-handed jam, and the Hawks were done, 98-86, with 1:27 remaining.
Curry tallied 36 points on 15-for-22 field, 5-for-11 downtown, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and just 2 turnovers. Thompson added 27 points on 10-for-23 shooting, 5-for-14 from beyond the arc. Bogut collected 5 blocked shots and Green tallied 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Barnes finished with 14 points.
Horford amassed 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 assists, Shroder and Teague combined for 32 points and 12 assists in defeat.
The Warriors (50-5) head to Miami to face the Heat in two nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @dong.quixote)
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