ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors, Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
The game was tied, 55-55, heading into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Counterpunches
The Rockets got the early jump in the second half. After trading buckets, Dwight Howard spun and drew a foul in the block against Andrew Bogut, Bogut’s third personal, then after Harrison Barnes missed an open jumper from the left baseline, Jason Terry blew by Stephen Curry on the left side, missed back iron but got his own rebound, and dished out to an awaiting Trevor Ariza on the right elbow for a trey swish.
Houston took a 65-59 lead with 8:10 to go and Golden State head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout.
The Warriors’ starters counter-punched, though, as Klay Thompson finally got a triple to drop as he toilet-bowled a catch-and-shoot from the left corner, assisted by Barnes, and Curry was able to turn the corner near the left baseline and, with Howard chasing, got a lefty finger roll to drop.
Josh Smith answered with a fade-away on an iso against Draymond Green on the left block, but Klay answered back, driving down the lane for an emphatic, wicked, one-handed jam past Terrence Jones.
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That put the Warriors ahead, 68-67, but on the next possession, Curry made a careless swing pass behind Bogut and into the sideline seats, Jones blocked Bogut at the rim, and Bogut was called for a questionable touch foul — his fourth personal — on a rebound of his two putback tap-in attempts after Curry entried a post-up to Green, who had missed the initial jumper.
That brought Festus Ezeli in to cover Howard, but Curry got a step-back trey to swish over Jones and it was 71-67, Warriors, with 4:40 to go.
The Rockets answered with two straight buckets from Harden and Howard, then Draymond finally got the best of Terry in the post, spinning and getting an and-one on the diminutive guard. Green flexed his biceps in celebration and converted the bonus free throw.
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Curry started to get going with an angling reverse layup going left to right, but on the next possession, Steph drove into the lane and got met by Corey Brewer, who seemed to not allow Curry to land. The referee called a charge on Steph, who was very upset with the call, and Harden scored on the next possession with a stop, upfake, and pop against Klay, to make it 77-75 Golden State, with 1:23 to play in the third.
Leandro Barbosa, however, was able to draw a charge on Harden on the other end, and the Warriors took a slim 77-75 lead into final frame.
4TH QUARTER: Warriors Nearly Shoot Themselves In Foot With Turnovers
Shaun Livingston was strong off the bench yet again as he got two key buckets to start the fourth quarter, boarding a bad miss by Barnes trying to fade on Jones, who blocked Barnes, then getting a turnaround in the mid-post right block over Brewer to swish.
Andre Iguodala added a catch-and-shoot jumper and #Roaracle’s thundersticks made Howard’s free throw attempts deafening…
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…Howard missed two free throws, but once again, a turnover killed the momentum as Bogut threw a swing pass into the sidelines that was intended for Barnes.
Shortly thereafter, Bogut nearly turned it over again on a near-identical play, and Kerr called timeout, up 85-81 approaching 7 minutes remaining, to settle things down, bringing back Curry to close things out.
Curry immediately got a reverse layup, then Bogut blocked Harden at the rim after he got past both Thompson and Green, but Steph gave the ball right back as he drove past Terry and threw the ball into a jumping and helping Howard. Ariza got the run-out dunk to make it 87-83, Warriors, with 6:18 left.
Harden got a left-to-right runner against Klay, but Bogut answered with an alley-oop slam fed by a mini-lob by Green. Golden State maintained a four-point lead with 5 minutes to go.
The two teams continued to hit each other, but the Warriors had the advantage as Klay got a lefty down the lane on a baseline out-of-bounds play after Green got blocked in the post by Howard. After that, Howard got fouled at the rim and missed both tries again.
Then Thompson made a critical defensive play against Harden, waiting for the right moment as Harden’s swinging arms came up, slapping it out. As Draymond ran the break, he was wrapped up by Ariza.
Ariza then made a bad pass that was stolen by Curry and Steph ended up with a long two pull-up over Jones to make it 94-86, although Harden immediately answered with a trey from the top to make it 94-89, Golden State, with 2:41 left.
Steph then went lefty down the lane and passed off to Bogut at the last possible moment. Bogut laid the ball in and got fouled and there was a rare celebration by the big man. He missed the free throw, but the Warriors held a 96-89 lead with under 2:25 to go.
After Harden fouled Barnes on an offensive rebound of a Curry missed three from the top, Steph milked the clock and, with Jones guarding him, backed up a few steps to create some space, attacked, stepped back, and swished a long two. McHale took a timeout and Golden State increased its lead to 98-90 with just 1:39 remaining.
Harden drove and got fouled, making both, and on the other end, Green was fouled by Brewer on a pick for Steph on the high left side. Curry drained a jumper and the referees convened to review the play to see when the whistle was blown.
They did not count the field goal by Steph and Draymond missed one of two at the line. Harden came back with a dunk down the lane to make it 99-94, Warriors.
Barnes then missed a wide open trey from the left corner as Green drove into traffic and dished off, then Harden drew more free throws as he got past Klay and Green’s help was moving too much on the dribble, for a blocking foul.
That made it 99-96, Golden State, with just 49.3 ticks left.
Brewer and Jones then converged on Curry on the inbound and Steph lost the ball but got it back, then took too long to advance it, getting called for the 8-second backcourt violation as he passed the ball to Green at halfcourt.
Harden took advantage of the opportunity, driving down the right side and lofting an alley-oop for Howard to tomahawk through with both hands, and Houston had miraculously got themselves nearly all the way back, trailing just 99-98 with 33.0 seconds to go.
Kerr called timeout, Curry let the clock expire a bit, drew Howard on a switch, rotated the ball from right to left to Iguodala, who found Barnes open in the left corner. Harrison attacked the left baseline, got met at the rim by multiple Rockets including Dwight, but missed the reverse layup too hard with about 8 seconds remaining.
Houston gave the ball to Harden, of course, who crossed halfcourt to be met by Thompson and Steph lurking, knowing that doubling Harden would be a better risk than letting him go to work.
Harden passed the rock back up top to Howard, who smartly passed it right back, but Curry stayed on for the double-team, Harden momentarily lost the ball, Steph and Klay converged, the ball was loose, and the final buzzer sounded.
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That preserved a 99-98 win for the Warriors as Golden State took a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 will be in two nights in Houston.
Harden led all scorers with 38 points on 13-for-21 field, 3-for-6 downtown, and 9-for-10 on free throws, plus 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. Howard added 19 points, 17 rebounds, while Jones contributed 12 points off the bench.
Curry led the Dubs with 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting, 5-for-11 beyond the arc, 6 assists, but also 6 turnovers. Thompson scored just 13 points on 6-for-15 field and 1-for-7 from deep, while Bogut added 14 points on 7-for-9 floor, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 blocked shots, but also 4 turnovers. Green tallied 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, but also committed 4 turnovers.
Coach Kerr went only four additional players deep, but the bench unit of Iguodala, Barbosa, Ezeli, and Livingston combined to go 9-for-15 fromthe field, bolstered by Sdot’s 4-for-4, plus 12 rebounds 9 assists, and 3 steals.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @kellymili)
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