ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after whipping the Sixers, the Golden State Warriors (66-7) continued their quest for regular season history, as well as the Number One seed for the playoffs, at home against the Washington Wizards (36-37).
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (ankle), Kevon Looney (hip), and Festus Ezeli (knee) and Brandon Rush (bruised knee).
The Wizards listed Alan Anderson (ankle) and Bradley Beal (pelvic sprain) as questionable, but Beal got the start.
1st Quarter – Breakaway Stephs
Stephen Curry extended his consecutive-games-with-a-three-pointer streak by hitting his first catch-and-shoot on the first possession after the Warriors won the tip, assisted by Andrew Bogut:
Good start on @csnauthentic and @nbaontnt! pic.twitter.com/2T3kv5sMZC
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) March 30, 2016
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Klay Thompson also got on the board early with a cut and a catch delivered by Draymond Green, then Thompson got a nice block on Beal. However, Klay also got an early foul against Beal.
Later, Thompson also lost the ball to Otto Porter and Porter scored a layup on the fastbreak led by John Wall, but Klay got the catch right back about two seconds later from the right arc and drilled a trey in return.
Thompson added a left baseline jumper on a flare, then used a big Bogut pick to free up for another triple from the right arc.
Markieff Morris then made a horrible pass to his point guard Wall, Curry stole it easily, and got in a foot race with Wall. He was fouled by Wall, but the athleticism won in the referee’s mind and the whistle was not blown:
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With 5:51 remaining, the Warriors held an 18-10 lead.
Out of a timeout, Bogut blocked an attack by Nene Hilario, but Porter got the offensive rebound and Thompson eventually fouled him, sending Klay to the bench with two personals.
But after a couple of empty possessions, Wall missed a layup even though he got past Leandro Barbosa down the left side, and Green led the break, converting a give-and-go with Barbosa in transition to give Golden State a 20-12 lead with 4:38 to play.
Marcin Gortat got a swooping lay-in plus the foul against a helping Barbosa, but Curry hit a right corner trey after Harrison Barnes tracked down an initial miss:
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Closing out the quarter, Steph got a steal and, this time, converted, slamming the ball home with Garrett Temple in his way:
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Barbosa committed another and-one foul, yielding three points to Porter, and the Warriors had a 27-22 lead after one period.
2nd Quarter –
Marreese Speights got off to another “microwave” start as he forced an “and-one” whistle on a made bucket, but missed the free throw.
Later, Shaun Livingston got fouled on a missed dunk and added a spinning fadeaway on the left baseline. Golden State held a 31-28 lead with 9:30 to go.
But Beal led the Wizards with a nice deception move to put the WIzards up, 35-33, with 7:38 left:
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But Ian Clark got a nice upfake-drive-floater after Barnes boarded a missed three by Speights.
Gortat got a power finish over the switched Livingston, Klay answered with a backdoor cut layup past Beal, assisted by Bogut, but Wall made a pull-up in response and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout with 5:31 remaining, Washington up, 39-37.
The Wizards pushed their lead to nine as Steph got past Gortat on a switch, but missed back-rim on the finger roll, Bogut laster made a bad pass, then got a rebound on defense on the same sequence, but his short outlet from under the Washington rim was stolen by Wall, who soared in for a scoop.
Gortat added an “and-one” with a hack on Barnes and Thompson traveled on the other end trying to answer back with an attack, and with 2:57 to play, the Wizards owned a 46-37 lead.
Green came out of the timeout with a trip to the free throw line, but it was Barnes knocking away a baseline lefty pass by Wall that turned the tide. Steph drilled a catch-and-shoot from the right arc and the floodgates were officially open, with 1:42 left:
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Porter missed, Green tapped the board to Klay, and Curry ended up crossing Jared Dudley, ending the play with a lefty banker.
Dudley missed from the top on a swing pass, Steph came back but turned it right back on a jump pass that went straight to Dudley, but Porter missed again, Curry got the rebound, and fired a touchdown pass to Livingston for a righty jam, which tied the game at 46-46 with, ironically, 46 seconds remaining.
Dudley messed up again, sending a pass to the right corner where there was no Wizard in sight, and Curry did a crossover-pullup over — you guessed it — Dudley from beyond the arc with 27.4 seconds to play, putting the Warriors up, 49-46:
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Beal missed a three in response, Draymond got the rebound, Steph leaked, but it was too late, Green didn’t see him, and launched a hapless three-quarter try.
However, the Warriors closed the nine-point deficit in less than three minutes and took a 49-46 lead into halftime.
Curry led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-14 field, 4-for-6 downtown, while Klay added 11 points and Draymond 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Beal led the Wizards with 15 points, Gortat grabbed 10 boards, and Wall dished out 5 assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @ryanbt1)
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