ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Game 5 of the opening round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs, the Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors held a 59-37 lead at halftime.
3rd Quarter – Klay Gets Hot
Harrison Barnes got off to a rocky start as he opened the third frame with a missed three from the right side, got his own rebound, and ended up coughing the ball up trying to drive past James Harden down the left side, with Patrick Beverley shading off Shaun Livingston nearby to poke the ball out.
Donatas Motiejunas answered with a banker, then after Barnes missed a step-back from the left baseline, hit a triple and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 10:41 remaining to allow the team to lick its early wounds.
The Golden State lead was trimmed to 59-42.
Klay stuck a jumper out of the timeout over Motiejunas, then hit a triple from the top assisted by Andrew Bogut.
But on the next sequence, the Rockets got three offensive rebounds off missed triples, although Bogut got this nifty lefty block on Motiejunas…
Bogut says 'no!' on @csnauthentic and @nbaontnt pic.twitter.com/PeSGQKVSCN
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 28, 2016
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…and Bogut fouled Motiejunas on the ground on the fourth attempt. That put the Warriors in the penalty with 7:44 to play.
Kerr opted for Anderson Varejao off the bench to replace Bogut.
Varejao immediately contributed as he dished to Klay for a catch-and-shoot trey up top, then Livingston struck again as he crossed Beverley with a right-to-left between-the-legs dribble, then rose for a jumper that rattled in.
With 7:05 to play, the Warriors had a 69-45 lead as Rockets head coach J.B. Bickerstaff called a timeout.
After timeout, Harden got a left side drive past Thompson, but the Warriors responded, and then some.
Varejao crafted a sling pass from the top to Green for a layup, with the harm, but Varejao actually ran back on defense to mutually point at Stephen Curry in street clothes, and Festus Ezeli, not knowing other players were lining up for Draymond’s free throw.
Thompson followed that up with this dribble-and-pop from beyond the arc:
Klay Thompson has gone unconscious. He's 7-11 from deep ?? pic.twitter.com/E6rgQtpdUz
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 28, 2016
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Klay then hit another one from deep, and he, the Warriors, and #Roaracle went wild as Golden State took a commanding 78-47 lead as Bickerstaff called another timeout with 5:36 to play, and Curry celebrating:
My dude, it's over in the third quarter pic.twitter.com/rS2PEkqzbj
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) April 28, 2016
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About the only thing the Warriors did wrong in the quarter was come out of the timeout with a poor baseline shot selection by Thompson, who airballed with Trevor Ariza draped all over him. Andre Iguodala followed that up by getting fouled beyond the arc by Beverley, only to miss all three charity shots, and Varejao missed a shot put inside badly.
Kerr took a timeout, just in case, as the Golden State lead got shaved to 78-54 with 3:48 to go.
The Warriors got back on track as Iguodala hit a jumper, Brandon Rush hit a triple after Varejao disrupted Harden and Green led the break, then Varejao took a charge on Ariza and Ian Clark capitalized with a long two from the left baseline on a catch-and-shoot.
The quarter ended with a Beasley jumper and Clark getting blocked by Howard on a drive, but the Warriors held an 89-59 lead after three periods of play.
Thompson finished the quarter with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, 4-for-5 downtown, totaling 27 points for the game. Meanwhile, Harden’s point total was up to 35, while Howard tallied 18 rebounds.
4th Quarter – Fans Bored, Start the Wave
Both teams played a much slower pace in the 4th quarter, mostly trading baskets.
The game began moving so slowly that fans attempted again to do the wave:
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While regular rotation players stayed on the court for the first six minutes of the quarter, both teams emptied the bench a little with about five minutes to play.
The Rockets finally went to Clint Capella, Montrezl Harrell, Andrew Goudelock and KJ McDaniels in the game’s final minutes.
Funnily enough, Howard was the last rotation player standing for the Rockets as their season ticked away.
The Warriors countered with their own subs, finishing with James McAdoo, Festus Ezeli, Clark, Leandro Barbosa, and Rush.
Rush scored a few baskets, including a second trey, extending his new career playoff high to 15 points on 4-6 shooting.
Clark finalized the scoring with an “and-one” jumper, adding the free throw as well to give the Warriors the 114-81 win over the Rockets.
For the game, Klay led the Warriors with 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting, including 7 triples which made him the first player in NBA history to hit 7 threes in consecutive playoff games, while Draymond added 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Livingston gave the Warriors 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting in Steph Curry’s absence and the Warriors sent the Rockets home in 5 games for the second consecutive season.
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