The team atop the Western Conference standings, the Golden State Warriors traveled to Philips Arena to face the team atop the Eastern Conference standings, the Atlanta Hawks. The Warriors were at full strength and the Hawks were missing Thabo Sefalosha due to a strained calf. It was a showdown that got “Superbowl” terminology billing from TV color broadcaster Jim Barnett.
1ST QUARTER: Stalemate
Both teams started out displaying their strengths as, for Atlanta, Paul Millsap drained a right baseline fade and, after a miss by Klay Thompson, Al Horford led the early offense and found the trailing Jeff Teague for a three as Stephen Curry retreated to try and help Andrew Bogut.
However, Golden State countered with a catch-and-pivot jumper swished by Thompson off of a Bogut baseline screen and another bucket by Klay going reverse glass from the wheel play off of Bogut at the top.
The teams also traded bad passes. A Bogut telegraph to Millsap led to a fade-away swish by Millsap in the paint after a nice spin fake in front of Bogut, while a Millsap bouncer that landed in Thompson’s hands led to a run-out dunk by Harrison Barnes.
Thompson then made a corner three from the right pocket after unselfish ball movement that started with a Klay swing to Bogut to Draymond Green, who attacked right baseline but flipped the ball back to Thompson. Thompson pulled the trigger before DeMarre Carroll could react.
But Bogut missed a shot inside, got his own rebound, passed it out to Curry seeing that Thompson wasn’t open, and Curry’s three was blocked by an anticipating Teague. Kyle Korver corralled the loose ball and fed Teague for a run-out dunk. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout and the Hawks had the early lead, 11-9, with 6:06 remaining in the opening frame. Klay had 7 of the Dubs’ 9 early points.
The Warriors gained some momentum as Teague made a bad pass to Thompson, who found Barnes for another dunk. Then Klay blocked Kent Bazemore‘s shot and, after a Millsap missed left finger roll and received a charley horse in the thigh, Green went coast-to-coast for a bucket.
Pero Antic then missed a three-pointer and Teague got the offensive rebound, but Bogut altered his putback attempt in the lane and the Warriors were on the run, with Barnes finding Curry for a deep right elbow triple that tickled the rim before going down. Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer called timeout and Golden State had taken a 16-11 lead with 3:55 to go.
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The quarter ended with more solid play by both teams as bench players started to sub in. Andre Iguodala made a deep two from the left side that was later ruled a three at the end of the quarter, Kent Bazemore hit a trey, and Leandro Barbosa answered the made basket with a touchdown layup going left side with the right hand.
Korver, who had been held relatively quiet by Thompson to start the game, got a three to drop, but Marreese Speights answered with a jumper facilitated by pick-and-roll action from Iguodala and David Lee. Lee ended the quarter with a right-handed floater after Al Horford was called for a moving screen on Curry with 34 seconds remaining.
The Warriors held a 25-21 lead after the first quarter, holding the Hawks to just 35% shooting, although Curry was 1-for-6 from the floor.
2ND QUARTER: Even-Steven Thanks To Klay
Bazemore continued to contribute, getting two treys to fall. Meanwhile, Speights made a brilliant Euro-step in the lane right-to-left and finished with a nifty left-handed scoop after a drop pass by Shaun Livingston flying by. Speights later made a jumper even after a slight hesitation upon receiving the pass, after Bazemore’s second triple trickled into the basket.
But Lee made a bad pass and Horford played “tic-tac-toe” with Korver and backup point guard Dennis Shroder, with Shroder finishing with a layup. Kerr called timeout and it was tied up, 34-34, with 8:34 to go in the half.
Thompson came back in and got an immediate banker to fall, and Bogut blocked Horford at the rim, but then later turned the ball over to Millsap as Bogut tried to post up Millsap, leading to a fastbreak by Carroll, who was slapped by Lee, and converted the and-one.
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Lee made another big mistake shortly after a Shroder darting layup, turning the inbound pass over to Horford, who found Shroder, who dished the ball to a wide open Korver for three from up top, while running back on defense.
Livingston got a badly needed turnaround high post fade to swish and with 5:39 to play, the TV timeout had the Warriors with a slim 38-36 lead and Curry set to come back in.
Teague then missed a three late in the shotclock, trying to draw a foul on the lunging Curry, but the shot hit the side of the backboard and Curry was off to the races. Green found him on the outlet but with the Hawks back defending the rim, Curry couldn’t draw a foul although he did draw contact at the rim on a left-handed attempt that went awry. On the ensuing transition play, Atlanta found Korver in the deep left corner for a three-pointer that gave the Hawks a 48-47 lead with 1:31 remaining in the half.
But Curry came back with the live dribble from up top, faking a shooting motion, then driving hard with his left shoulder leading, slapping the backboard as a lefty layup banked off for two points.
However, Barnes made a mistake by fouling Carroll, late in the Hawks’ shotclock, as Carroll stepped back for a three-pointer on the left side. Then Bogut made another silly turnover, not finding anyone as Atlanta put on a full-court press. At the last moment before the five-second call, Bogut try to laser a pass to a semi-open Lee, but Bazemore deflected it and Shroder
Teague ended up getting two free throws on the ensuing possession, but Thompson took the inbounds with 4 seconds remaining in the half and blew by the Hawks defense, hanging at the rim to draw the foul with 0.1 seconds left. Klay’s two free throws tied it up at the half, 52-52.
The Warriors had 8 turnovers and just Thompson’s two free throws compared to 11-for-12 from the line by the Hawks, although Golden State was leading on the boards, 30-22, with 8 rebounds by Green and 7 by Bogut.
Klay was clearly the best player on the floor, although the Hawks had done a good job containing Curry, helped out by Curry’s 1-for-5 from downtown, as Thompson tallied 13 points on 5-for-9 field. Korver led the Hawks with 11 points on 3 treys and Millsap added 10.
Bogut was the guilty party on 4 of the Warriors’ 8 turnovers.
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