ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Phoenix Suns at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 62-59 lead into halftime.
Q3 – Late Push From Chef
Marquese Chriss got the Suns off on the right foot with a monstrous one-handed putback dunk, but after a Devin Booker steal, Draymond Green raced back to swat him from behind, which led to Stephen Curry leading the break.
Klay Thompson answered with a three assisted by Kevin Durant.
However, T.J. Warren immediately silenced the crowd with an impressive dribble-and-pop from the left baseline.
Steph got back to the line after Zaza Pachulia completely missed him in the right corner and instead took an ill-fated baseline jumper that went off a Suns player.
Curry gave Zaza a high-five, probably knowing that the play would be discussed in game film study tomorrow.
Both teams traded baskets after that, with Devin Booker getting a righty scoop off of his own missed jumper, Green hitting a three on a catch from Durant after KD was doubled on the bounce, Eric Bledsoe floating over Green in the paint, and Zaza got a putback as the defense sucked into Durant’s missed layup.
Booker hit a trailing three fed by Bledsoe, but In vintage “Super Team” style, Curry found Durant on the right wing, the Suns defense shifted over, and “KD” dished over to Klay waiting in the right corner for three.
Booker hit a dribble-and-pop over Thompson on the left baseline, then after a missed three by Bledsoe, KD got past Alex Len on the right baseline for a jam.
After the timeout, KD used an upfake to create a lane and he took big steps to a righty dunk past center Len.
Later, Durant got an “and-one” as the Warriors played “tic-tac-toe” with Curry to Green in the paint, then to Kevon Looney for the bucket, but Looney missed the bonus free throw.
Booker continued to play well, getting a righty scoop in the lane after Steph missed a triple from the top, but shortly thereafter, Booker missed a jumper, Curry tapped the ball out to Andre Iguodala, and the Warriors were on the run.
Iguodala found Curry in stride on the right wing, Steph side-stepped Jared Dudley, then launched as Dudley trampled him.
The ball went through the hoop…
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…but there was no call and the Suns went the other way, Knight drawing a questionable foul on Draymond as Green knocked the ball out.
With 2:44 to go, Golden State held onto an 88-84 lead.
Kerr inserted Patrick McCaw and he immediately hit a catch-and-shoot trey assisted by Curry, then swatted Booker off the board on a chase-down…
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…but Iguodala’s fast break layup went too hard.
Booker found himself open for a touchdown dunk at the other end, but Durant hustled back and tipped the ball away, lead to a pull-up three by Steph from the right arc that banged in:
Do yourself a favor and watch this whole fricking sequence. OMG pic.twitter.com/iKC81uK4lF
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 14, 2016
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Just like that, the Warriors bolted ahead, 94-85, with 1:44 to play.
Curry added a reverse layup, Looney got a Durant miss and dished out to McCaw for a calm, collected swish from the left corner, and with 44 ticks left, Golden State went up, 99-87.
But Bledsoe came back with an “and-one” down the left side against Looney, Steph went too hard off glass and Knight found Booker for a layup.
Curry tried a three-quarter-court heave that was on line but just short to #Roaracle’s dismay, and the Warriors held a 99-92 lead heading into the final frame.
Q4
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