This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors took a 62-47 lead into the third quarter.
3rd Quarter – Klay Stays Hot, Curry Re-Injures Shin
Klay Thompson finally got the Warriors to the free throw line to start things out, then Andrew Bogut added another inside bucket with a dunk putback of a missed Stephen Curry jumper, but Jordan Clarkson hit a pull-up, got a floater to drop, then stepped back on the dribble from beyond the arc in the left corner and the Lakers wouldn’t go away, trailing the Warriors early on, 64-51 with 9:21 to go.
Curry used a brush screen off Bogut, who had the ball in the deep right wing, and Bogut delivered a nice lead pass, allowing Steph to make a tough contested banker.
However, with Roy Hibbert helping and creating contact, Curry came up limping. Draymond Green took a foul to stop the game, and Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton called timeout.
It appeared Hibbert hit Curry on the injured left shin:
Nightmare scenario — Steph Curry is hurt. pic.twitter.com/xQAXmphFGp
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) January 6, 2016
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Yet, after the timeout, Curry remained in the game.
Thompson got this pull-up jumper via pick from Bogut…
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…then Curry made a triple from the left corner, assisted by Andre Iguodala, Lakers head coach Byron Scott called a timeout, and with 5:34 remaining and the Warriors up, 76-55, #DubNation breathed a sigh a relief.
Later, while Curry ran an elevators play on the left wing, Metta World Peace wouldn’t let Green set his side of the pick, got whistled, then picked up a technical in the process:
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After free throws from Curry and Green, Golden State was up 80-55.
Jerome Randle got blocked by Green, giving the Lakers a putrid 17-for-59 shooting (28.8%), World Peace missed a jumper, Marreese Speights got the rebound, outlet to Green, who pushed the ball and found Thompson on the right wing for a catch-and-shoot triple:
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Iguodala stole the ball, Draymond launched a touchdown pass to Andre streaking, who found Klay in the right corner while falling out on the baseline, but Thompson missed the heat-check in front of two Lakers and their bench.
But after Curry checked out with 2:46 to go in the quarter to head to the locker room for some treatment, Klay came back with another three, assisted by Ian Clark, and Golden State’s lead stretched to 88-55 as Scott called another timeout with 2:30 left.
With 31.7 seconds remaining, Thompson drove into the paint, drew a foul from Brandon Bass, and converted both free throws to give him 36 points on the night.
Closing out the quarter, Clarkson missed a jumper, but Clark drove right into Nick Young’s chest, lost the ball, and the third period ended with the Warriors up, 92-60.
4th Quarter – Depleted Guard Core
Once again, Harrison Barnes came off the bench, but this time missed his first shot then drilled his second, a turnaround.
His third shot was also a make, a turnaround from the right baseline that somehow trickled in after touching rim and glass.
The rest of the game was uneventful, except for this missed open layup by World Peace:
Watch the Warriors' bench. pic.twitter.com/Mad5WWOVWA
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) January 6, 2016
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Klay came back in for Iguodala with 6:38 to play, much to the fervor of the Lakers TV announcers and even Twitterers in DubNation, although it was clear that with Leandro Barbosa out, Barnes limited to playing a certain number of consecutive minutes, and Shaun Livingston given the day off on the second of a back-to-back, Walton had no choice with such a thin bench at the guard spot.
Sure enough, Barnes came back in with 3:35 to play and the Warriors (33-2) — who now boast the NBA history’s best record after 35 games — closed things out with a 109-88 victory.
Thompson led all scorers with 36 points on 12-for-22 shooting, 6-for-12 downtown, while Curry added 17 and Green tallied 9 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Speights had 12 points, 10 rebounds off the bench, Barnes was 5-for-7 with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and the Warriors held the Lakers to just 29-for-91 from the field, or 31.9%.
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Rush had a solid game with 8 points, 9 rebounds, worthy of a post-game water-douse from Green:
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @scotttysmalls)
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