This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Game 3 of Round 1 of the 2015-16 NBA Playoffs, Golden State Warriors at the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets held a 55-48 lead at halftime.
3rd Quarter – Mo’ MoBuckets
Draymond Green started off with a Euro-step charge into Donatas Motiejunas, but struck back with this dunk turning the corner on Motiejunas:
@money23green with a quick drive + powerful dunk ?????#Bogut assist #Warriors #NBA #dunk #DraymondGreen @BabersGreen pic.twitter.com/vsHkOuOxMV
— Warriors Vision (@Warriors_Vision) April 22, 2016
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But after Andrew Bogut got a putback tip-in of a Shaun Livingston miss after he spun past James Harden, the Rockets counter-punched with this alley-oop after Dwight Howard got an offensive rebound out of a timeout:
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Things started going downhill as Green fouled Harden on a triple attempt plus a foul, although Draymond claimed Harden pushed him…
We don't think Draymond likes James Harden very much pic.twitter.com/t6vPEQzZgK
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 22, 2016
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But the tide turned towards the Warriors as Green fed a Klay Thompson cut from the left post:
Nice dish from @Money23Green sets up a @KlayThompson layup on @CSNAuthentic & TNT. pic.twitter.com/9KYcPbNIgo
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 22, 2016
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Howard answered with a lefty hook after a spin and the Rockets still led by twelve, 72-60, with 4:21 remaining.
But Harden missed a three, Speights got the board and Green finished the tough layup as Andre Iguodala got smashed on the initial screen for Harden:
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Iguodala was able to get up, seemingly unharmed, as Rockets head coach J.B. Bickerstaff called timeout.
Golden State kept their momentum going, however, as Klay finally hit a catch-and-shoot, although it was a long two from the right side, then Speights got a slip with a pick-and-roll with Thompson and dunked with the left hand:
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…then made an upfake on a three and drove in for a lefty layup with 57 seconds to play.
Harden bricked a three over Iguodala, but Klay charged into Motiejunas on the transition. The Warriors still got the ball back for the last possession and Speights missed a deep three, with no foul called on Harden’s close-out.
Golden State cut the Houston lead to just 78-72 at the end of three quarters, as Speights added six more points to total 20 points off the bench.
4th Quarter – Comeback!
Shaun Livingston went on a tear to start the 4th quarter, hitting three shots in a row to bring the Warriors to within 81-78 in the first three minutes of the final frame:
.@ShaunLivingston with the hot hand in the fourth quarter. Watch on @CSNAuthentic & TNT. pic.twitter.com/BXYwc44SDa
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 22, 2016
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But later, Harden nailed a triple over Green, and both of them had a little smile about it right after:
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And Motiejunas hit a three, with Klay reacting late:
Part of Steve Kerr died on that Motiejunas made 3 pic.twitter.com/Lglhbzkwj6
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) April 22, 2016
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Still, Golden State clawed back, with a timely three by Ian Clark, plus this fast break, stutter-stepping past Patrick Beverley after Draymond rebounded a Harden missed a three…
.@IanClark freezes Patrick Beverley with the stutter step! https://t.co/QuedfdoLSv
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 22, 2016
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That forced Bickerstaff to call timeout with the Houston lead cut to 91-87 with 3:42 to play, before Harden got this impressive dunk out of the timeout, back-dooring Thompson…
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…with 3:24 to go and the Rockets up, 93-87.
Free throws by Green and a three by Iguodala from the right side, assisted by — who else? — Clark brought the Warriors to within 93-92 with 2:56 left, then a clutch floater by — who else? — Clark gave Golden State an improbable 94-93 lead with 1:25 remaining:
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But Draymond fouled Michael Beasley on the rebound of a missed one-hand jump hook by Livingston, which is usually automatic, with Harden flying by and possibly scraping Livingston. There would be no such call in Houston.
Beasley connected twice from the line to put the Rockets back up, 95-94, with 41 seconds remaining.
Klay got a good luck with 32 seconds to play, but missed his seventh three with zero makes on the night:
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Motiejunas got the rebound, Clark was careful not to foul him with a two-second differential with the shot clock, and even raced back to try and steal an entry pass to a wide-open Beasley on the left baseline, with the rest of the Golden State defense scrambling around the perimeter.
The ball was called off Clark on the reach-in, although replays from the bird’s eye seemed to indicate the ball last touched Beasley. However, this type of play is hard to rule against the offense, as Clark did poke his hand in there to jar the ball loose, directly out of bounds.
With 14 seconds to play and the ball stuck on the Rockets’ baseline, Trevor Ariza threw a pass to Beasley as he was caught up with Iguodala, and Livingston pounced on it, led the break, and found Clark.
But Harden raced back for the answer with 2.7 seconds to go:
Rockets cap wild end-to-end sequence w/ James Harden game-winning jumper to take Game 3 vs. Warriors pic.twitter.com/3jBxNC9wfZ
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 22, 2016
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Harden may have pushed off, but that was not going to be called in the millisecond that it happened, plus in Houston:
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The Warriors still had one last chance, though, but Green took his eye off the ball as Klay entered the ball and set a pin-down for Speights:
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Houston inbounded with 1.0 seconds left and threw the ball near the Warriors’ basket, escaping the clutches of Livingston and the buzzer sounded.
Harden finished with 35 points to lead all scorers, while Motiejunas and Howard combined to tally 27 points and 26 rebounds.
Speights led the Warriors with 22 points off the bench, Clark added a heroic 11 points, Livingston had 16 points, and Thompson ended with 16. However, Golden State’s stars were horrible on the plus-minus: Harrison Barnes -7, Green -7, Bogut -11, and Thompson -7.
The Rockets took Game 3 of the series and the Warriors (2-1) look ahead to Game 4 to the possible return of Stephen Curry from a right ankle sprain.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @duanebrown76)
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