ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the New Orleans Pelicans at the Golden State Warriors
The Warriors took a 54-46 lead at halftime.
Q3: JaVale Spark, Klay At The Buzzer
Kevin Durant got the Warriors off on the right foot as he hit a jumper assisted by Zaza Pachulia, then after Draymond Green blocked a three-point attempt by Dante Cunningham in the right corner, Durant hit another jumper as he cut nearby a Shaun Livingston mid-post on the left side.
Green followed that up with a triple from the right arc as Klay Thompson ran by.
After free throws from Klay, using his body and upfakes to draw contact from the smaller Tim Frazier, the Warriors moved ahead, 63-48.
But Jrue Holiday came back with a drive-and-dish to Cunningham for a two-hand jam on the right baseline, Livingston hit another baseline jumper off the dribble-and-pop, then hit again on a turnaround after a dish inside by Green, and the Warriors had their largest lead at 67-50 with 8:48 remaining.
Out of a timeout, Livingston struck again with a jump hook on another feed from Draymond, and Pachulia drew Alexis Ajinca’s fourth personal, sending him to the bench and bringing in Donatas Motiejunas.
Durant drove in on Cunningham from the top, with ease, for a righty scoop, after there was a bit of stagnation on offense and “KD” had to wave Patrick McCaw to cut baseline, and after Thompson boarded a missed three from Andre Iguodala.
Holiday then missed a three, Klay answered back drilling one the other way…
[protected-iframe id=”850916ac909d761f4ff99e00184298e5-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F850923901680930820″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]…then after Motiejunas fell down missing a triple from the left wing, JaVale McGee, who had come in for Pachulia, ran the floor, Durant got the carom on the miss, and threw a touchdown pass for an uncontested one-hand jam for McGee:
[protected-iframe id=”d5a8c78368c1d69b1b404bd89df6d9c3-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBCSWarriors%2Fstatus%2F850923902620401664″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry took a timeout as the Warriors moved ahead, 78-59, with 3:57 remaining.
Golden State ended the quarter with a flurry. Ian Clark found JaVale inside for an and-one against Motiejunas, Thompson hit a jumper, Clark hit a runner over Motiejunas, and Iguodala used an upfake to shake up the defense, drive baseline, and find McGee for two more on an alley-oop.
Patrick McCaw then also found McGee at the rim, ex-Warrior Jordan Crawford turned a missed Klay three into a coast-to-coast finger roll with 3.6 seconds to play.
But Iguodala fired a touchdown pass to Thompson just outside the Golden State arc on the right wing, Klay gave an upfake, took a dribble to the top, and buried a triple at the buzzer, giving the Warriors a dominating 93-68 lead heading into the final frame:
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Iguodala continued the momentum in the fourth, getting a dunk off a spin via feed from Clark, then going left baseline for the catch-and-smash from David West:
[protected-iframe id=”0b39d4f5956de2acdc6eb3d4cea3bc03-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F850927078216155138″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Andre continued to stay hot, hitting a right-wing triple after a fake pass to throw the defense off, and Clark hit a runner after another up-fake freed some space.
Suddenly, the Warriors’ lead grew to 102-71 with 9:46 left.
Out of a timeout, Livingston got the extra pass and slammed two more points with two hands:
[protected-iframe id=”cb4c370f2a8cb2c632055d91398eee7f-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F850928643563962369″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]…then at the 5:50 mark with the Warriors up 112-80, head coach Steve Kerr subbed out Durant, with Clark, McCaw, West, James McAdoo and McGee assigned mop-up work. Pachulia later took out West.
Golden State (66-14) eventually won, XXX-XX, and will face the Jazz at home, with Stephen Curry also scheduled to come back, in two nights.
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