ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Chicago Bulls at the Golden State Warriors.
3rd Quarter – Curry Destroys Hinrich Off The Dribble In This “Sluggish”-Fest
The game turned into a slugfest — or rather, a “sluggish”-fest. Nevertheless, the slow pace was an advantage for the Bulls, throughout the third frame.
Tony Snell got a putback dunk past Klay Thompson, but Stephen Curry came back with two extraordinary dribble penetration drives past Kirk Hinrich:
How do you stop this? pic.twitter.com/htPZpRKl6Z
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 21, 2015
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Got Handles ??.. @StephenCurry30 #DubNation #LetsGoWarriorsLive @warriors pic.twitter.com/H0wVLo88g7
— The Bucketologist™ (@Mr_Emmasbrain) November 21, 2015
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Jimmy Butler made an acrobatic three, then a jumper, to tally 21 points on the night.
But then successive turnovers by Golden State’s stars gave Chicago a momentary lead that they couldn’t quite capitalize on.
Draymond Green lost the ball on an errant pass by Curry, E’Twaun Moore stole the ball and led the break, and found Doug McDermott in the right corner for a catch-and-shoot trey.
But a couple of little pokes of the ball on defense by Steph, against Noah on an offensive rebound, then picking the pocket of Moore who had terminated his dribble in traffic on the left wing, got the Warriors right back in it.
Festus Ezeli got a righty bankshot putback of a missed Thompson runner, and Andre Iguodala got tangled up by Jimmy Butler while trying to attack on the baseline.
Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton rolled the dice and subbed in James McAdoo for Green and Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg tested the second-year player with an immediate “Hack-A-Mac”, sending McAdoo to the line.
But McAdoo made both, then forced a traveling violation on Joakim Noah, and that was the end of that experiment.
Curry ended the quarter with a three-pointer near the top with 53 seconds remaining, and Golden State headed into the fourth with a 77-73 lead.
4th Quarter – Harry B The Beneficiary Of Small-Ball
The fourth quarter started with both benches going head-to-head against each other. The Warriors’ consisted of Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Andre Iguodala, McAdoo, and Ezeli.
Aside from a McAdoo jump hook to make it 81-76 Golden State, it was an ugly affair, with a combined five missed shots. Ezeli rather unathletically hammered Nikola Mirotic on a close-out of a three-point attempt.
After Green, Thompson, and Barnes checked back in, Taj Gibson managed to pivot nicely under the rim and get a shot to drop despite Ezeli’s presence.
After Hinrich drew a foul from behind on Livingston on a drive, Curry returned with 6:16 remaining and Kirk’s two free throws narrowing the Warriors’ lead to 87-86.
Golden State tried to light the Curry torch once more, building momentum as Green spun past Butler in the poast and lofted a lob to Ezeli for a two-hand flush, but Hinrich answered with a pull-up three in transition.
Steph dribbled towards the right wing and pulled up in front of Hinrich and a closing Pau Gasol, only to have the ball hit back rim, bounding towards Thompson and Butler, who got their feet entangled.
Klay managed to shovel the ball to the approaching Steph, who stopped and popped a triple. Hoiberg immediately called timeout as #Roaracle smelled blood. The Warriors were up, 92-89, with 5:25 to go.
It seemed Golden State, who had just come back against the Los Angeles Clippers from 23 points, 24 hours ago, had some heavy legs as Thompson airballed a three from the top with the shotclock winding down, and Iguodala’s trey attempt from the right wing was way short.
Curry even showed signs of fatigue, tracking down his own missed three but the open finger roll on the right baseline went short as well.
Still, Butler stuck a jumper over Curry with 2:57 left and the Bulls were down just 94-91. Walton took a timeout with 2:02 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Golden State went to Green in the post. He missed, but got his own rebound putback with the right-handed banker.
Later, he spun around the defender in the post from the right block, found Iguodala in the deep left corner, who swung the ball to Barnes on the left wing. Barnes canned the triple on the catch and, just like that, the Warriors had a 99-91 lead with time ticking away for the Bulls.
Mirotic got the ball against Barnes in post, with Nikola’s back to the basket, not his most comfortable position. Harrison poked the ball out, the Warriors were on the move again, and as Gasol and Mirotic pointed at the wrong person to guard in defense of Walton’s small-ball lineup, Green found Barnes open on the right wing and Harrison delivered again.
That gave the Warriors a 102-92 lead with just 41 seconds remaining, enough to seal the deal. A Butler pull-up jumper and Curry close-out free throws ended with a final score of 106-94, Golden State, which is now 14-0 on the season.
The Warriors will face the Denver Nuggets in an away game in two nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @woowinyoung)
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