This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Utah Jazz.
The Warriors took a 42-40 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Jazz Take Lead Keeping Pace Slow
Andrew Bogut committed a turnover on a connection with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson missed a jumper, perhaps a bad omen for Golden State out of the gate.
Meanwhile, Derrick Favors hit a bucket, missed two free throws but drew Bogut’s third foul in the process, Gordon Hayward flared out on the dribble for a three-pointer from the right elbow, and Rudy Gobert disrupted two Curry scoops, one of them an official blocked shot.
Rodney Hood toilet-bowled a left baseline jumper and, sensing a little discombobulation, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 9:02 remaining as the Jazz seized control of the game and the tempo, 47-42.
Curry hit a triple…
Step-back #SPLASH on @csnauthentic pic.twitter.com/FsWRNxus7Y
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) March 31, 2016
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…but Bogut picked up his fourth personal, which was reviewed and ruled a common foul, and the Warriors didn’t find a spark until Harrison Barnes put his #BlackFalcon costume on and soared in for a dunk, assisted by Steph, after a Favors made free throw.
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder tried to nip the momentum in the butt and called timeout with 6:38 to play, with Utah up, 52-47.
Out of the timeout, Curry drew a charge on Trevor Booker, but came back with an airball from the left elbow. Shelvin Mack got a three with the shotclock expiring at the other end over Steph.
Curry came back with a deep right pull-up over Favors, but Mack continued his good play as he turned the corner and fed Gobert for a dunk over Anderson Varejao.
Steph got another triple, this time over Joe Ingles, but Ingles answered back with his own three and Curry missed a three, then got an inside-the-paint lefty push shot rejected by Gobert, after his dribble got killed.
Mack got a layup running pick-and-roll with Gobert on their end of the sequence and, with 2:24 to go, the Jazz held a 64-58 lead.
Later, after two straight missed late-shotclock jumpers by Varejao, Hayward tried to drive on Shaun Livingston, came up way short, and picked up a technical, which Steph buried to give himself 20 points on the night.
But Green fouled Rodney Hood, on another late try at the shotclock buzzer, and Kerr bailed Draymond out of a potential technical by telling the ref it was the right call.
Closing out the quarter, Curry got a stop-and-pop from the right baseline, but Trey Lyles came back down with an improbable runner with 1.2 seconds left, and the Jazz maintained a 69-63 lead heading into the final frame.
4th Quarter – The Magic Of The Reload
Barnes got the Warriors off on the right foot to start the fourth quarter with an upfake-dribble-pop from the right baseline, fed by Marreese Speights. Speights later putback a missed Barnes triple, but Raul Neto answered with a three of his own, and the Jazz held a 75-67 lead with 8:39 remaining.
Ian Clark, who played with Utah last year, got left-side runner off of a dangerous jump-pass from Thompson that left Clark in a bit of traffic in the corner, Hood came back with a Euro-step drive, however, Livingston got off a patented baseline jumper in response, only to be answered by yet another Gobert putback, this time on a Lyles miss.
Kerr took a timeout with 7:19 left, the Warriors down 79-71, to sub Curry back in for the remainder.
Thompson hit a right-corner three to get the final stretch started, then Curry used his body to shield Gobert on a drive and used some English off the board to give him 24 points and further trim the Jazz lead to 82-76 with 6:06 left.
Steph got a steal on Hood, which led to a “tic-tac-toe” play where Curry found Green, who found Clark in the left corner for a triple.
Hayward got a stepback against a switched Draymond, Klay upfaked Gobert for contact with no call, but the Warriors finally got the spark they needed as Barnes faked a handoff to Steph and went down the lane for a #BlackFalcon two-hand jam. Barnes followed that up by getting fouled by Mack on a slip to the rim and, with the Jazz in the penalty, got two free throws with 2:38 remaining.
After a timeout, Barnes split the throws and the Warriors were down 85-83. After making the second, Barnes promptly fouled Gobert to purposely send him to the line.
The strategy worked as Gobert missed both, and Livingston then found Green inside on a seal of the smaller Mack, tying the game at 85-apiece with 2:19 to play.
Hood lost the ball on an attack past Barnes, where Harrison could have been called for a slight push in the back, but Steph missed a three on a curl and launch, and Hayward came back with this triple on a pull-up:
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That gave the Jazz an 88-85 lead with 1:26 to go.
Out of a timeout, Steph went with a reverse layup past Gobert, but fouled by Gobert. However, Curry missed the first free throw.
Hayward and Curry then traded dribbling turnovers, Gobert tipped a missed Mack runner that rolled around the rim, then tipped his own miss, over the outstretched arms of Green, and Mack got the loose ball with 24.3 seconds left, forcing Steph right next to him in the paint, to foul him.
Utah’s woes at the line continued as Mack missed the first and made the second, and Golden State was within one possession, down 89-86.
Kerr took a timeout and elected Thompson to shoot a triple, but he missed on a catch up top from Curry, but Livingston sneaked his way to the ball and got the offensive board, then dished back out to Klay, who didn’t miss on the quick-release reload over a lunging Hayward:
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That tied the game, 89-89, with 15.0 seconds remaining, and Snyder took another timeout to draw up the last play for Utah.
But Mack’s pull up on the right baseline got deflected by Draymond, Hayward’s offensive catch and desperation shot at the buzzer got nothing but air, and somehow the Warriors manufactured another overtime safety valve!
Overtime – The Will To Win
Gobert easily won the tipoff of the overtime and Hayward got the Jazz going in the extra frame with a runner, but Livingston came back with a dribble-and-pop jumper fearlessly over Gobert from the free throw line.
Livingston then got a steal of Gobert in the paint, Green brought the ball down and went to the left side for a spinning and-one, although he missed the free throw.
Hood made an impressive catch-and-shoot jumper in response, but Curry made a right-to-left drive past Hayward after a catch-and-upfake.
Mack couldn’t score an ill-advised stepback three over the switched Draymond, but Green turned the ball over from the post, the ball going straight to Joe Ingles. However, Hood was short on his shot and Curry tipped the ball to Barnes. Mack ended up fouling Steph, and the Warriors took a 97-93 lead into another Snyder timeout with 2:19 remaining.
The Jazz took too long again on the next possession, as Hood missed a three at the shotclock buzzer with Green closing out and, this time, not fouling him, and on the other end, Curry made an improbable — even for him — drive over Gobert that hit the glass and rim many times before dropping.
With the Warriors now up 99-93, Steph took a charge on Hayward, anticipating his right hand attack, then went pick-and-roll with Draymond and fed him a perfect bounce pass for the emphatic jam:
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“Stick a fork in them,” CSN Bay Area color commentator Jim Barnett said of the Jazz after that play, as the Warriors took a commanding 101-93 overtime lead with just 1:04 to play, Snyder taking another timeout.
Hood managed to bury a triple out of the timeout, but it was too late, the Jazz were running out of time even as Green made a turnover on the inbound trying to advance, with the ball sailing into the sidelines as he was hit on the head by Ingles, then fell on the floor. Draymond seemed to be okay, though.
Thompson made a beautiful slap-down of a Mack left-side penetration, which resulted in an errant jump-pass, and with 28.8 seconds left, Utah had to foul Green, who inbounded to Klay and got the ball back.
Draymond made both free throws, then out of a timeout, Lyles missed a reverse layup, Thompson got the rebound, and Curry went with a behind-the-back dribble at halfcourt to evade the Jazz and run out the clock.
The Warriors (68-7) won, 103-96, to leave them just four wins behind the Bulls’ NBA record of 72-10. Golden State will return to Oakland to face the Celtics in two nights.
Curry led all scorers with 31 points on five triples, Klay had 18 points, Barnes tallied 15-and-11, and Green collected 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Hayward led the Jazz with 21 points, Hood added 20, Gobert grabbed 18 boards, and Mack dished out 9 assists.
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