ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 60-55 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Energy At Oracle Builds
Both teams got off to a rocky start, missing several shots out of the gate, until Harrison Barnes converted an and-one layup while defended by Kevin Martin, giving Golden State a 67-60 lead with 8:16 to play.
Barnes made himself a factor in the third, catching an airball by Stephen Curry‘s three-pointer from the deep left elbow and dunking it through. Curry thought he was fouled on the play, but got little response from the referee while running back on defense as the Warriors took a 71-63 lead with 6:35 remaining.
Meanwhile, Andrew Bogut picked up his third personal after a 50/50 call getting isolated and attacked to the hole by Adreian Payne, then on an over-the-back call after Curry had a layup trickle out.
Barnes continued his solid play, though, soaring in from the left side for a right-handed bankshot after Festus Ezeli blocked a shot by Andrew Wiggins, who had beaten Curry on the righthanded dribble down the right side.
That got #Roaracle cooking and the roof would have been blown off the arena had Steph made a halfcourt shot after getting fouled upon picking Payne’s high post spin. The shot would not have counted, as the foul occurred on the floor in transition, but the Timberwolves were in the penalty and Curry sank one of two free throws to the chants of, “M-V-P!”, giving the Warriors a 74-63 separation with 5:01 to go.
Ezeli continued his high-energy play, taking Justin Hamilton strong off the right block for a reverse layup that got hacked by Hamilton, then getting fouled again by the Wolves’ big man as Festus slipped on a pick-and-roll with Klay. Ezeli missed the first two free throws, but made the second pair.
The energy in the arena began to build up as Andre Iguodala swatted a Chase Budinger layup into the stands, drawing louder cheers when the play was replayed on the jumbotron.
But things reached a fever pitch when Curry made a cut on the baseline with Zach LaVine in tow. Barnes lasered a pass to Steph under the hoop, who felt the contact from LaVine, caught the ball and put up a reverse layup, plus the foul.
Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders called timeout and Curry’s free throw made it 79-67 with about two minutes left.
The Warriors then stretched the lead to 17 heading into the final frame, as Ezeli corralled an missed Justin Holiday three-pointer and slammed it home with two hands. Then Wolves guard Lorenzo Brown used his off arm to ward off Curry, who fell to the floor hoping for a charge call. He didn’t get it, but Brown lost the ball to Holiday, who had no one in his and tomahawked a one-hand jam on the other end.
As the quarter came to a close, Martin’s jumper hit back rim, Barnes got the rebound and gave the ball to Steph. Curry crossed the halfcourt line with 4 seconds remaining, made a stutter step on Budinger, then crossed him over and stepped back for a three-pointer that went in as the third quarter buzzer sounded.
That gave Steph 29 points and the Warriors took an 86-69 lead into the final frame.
4TH QUARTER: Klay To The Rescue
With the Warriors’ second unit in, the Wolves made a comeback, as LaVine came alive with a trail trey fed by Wiggins, then LaVine got a putback dunk after Holiday made a bad pass.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 9:59 to play and the Warriors’ lead trimmed to 86-79.
Budinger added a trey, and later LaVine soared in for a fastbreak lay-in from left to right, after Thompson missed a fade-away one-footed jumper from the left baseline that was shot behind the backboard.
That brought Minnesota back to within 5 points, 91-86, with 6:10 remaining.
Curry came back in, but LaVine soared again, this time getting a two-handed dunk on early offense transition, thanks to an outlet pass from Hamilton, after Steph made a nice floater in the lane.
LaVine kept going, drilling a right corner trey as Draymond Green alley-oop pass to Bogut went awry and the Wolves went on a fastbreak as a result. Steph missed a crossover step-back trey over Budinger, Green couldn’t tip-in the putback, and Minnesota was on the move again. LaVine drained a long two-pointer and the Warriors’ lead evaporated to 94-93 with 4:14 left.
But this time, Thompson came to the rescue as the Dubs put trust in their ball movement and Bogut got the ball inside, dished out to Iguodala on the left wing, who immediately got it to the momentarily open Klay in the left corner. Thompson didn’t have much time before the defense closed out, so he used his quick release on the catch and the trey went through, giving the Warriors a 97-93 lead with 3:49 to play.
Klay then stole the ball on a reach-in against Wiggins, who had faded quickly from his fast start in the first half, and Thompson led the break, feeding a cutting Iguodala on the left, who fed Green running the floor on the right, for an easy layup.
Budinger found himself against Bogut on a switch and easily took him off the dribble into the lane, finishing with a left-handed finger rool, but Klay added another trey from the right side on a catch-and-shoot delivered by a “tic-tac-toe” from Draymond to Bogut, and Golden State increased the lead to 102-95 with just 2:26 to go.
Out of a timeout, Thompson got the ball in the frontcourt with a streaking Curry on his wing and, although Klay slightly fumbled the ball, was able to flick the ball to Steph in time for a layup, plus the foul on Brown, to make it 104-95 with 2:15 remaining. That also gave Curry 33 points.
Bogut added a two-handed jam down the lane, fed by Curry’s 6th assist, but Bogut then fouled out as LaVine got the step past Steph and the contact from Bogut.
But it was too late, as the Warriors had already built a 107-98 lead with 47.2 seconds to play by then.
Thompson added a three-pointer from the deep right wing, Curry’s 7th assist, and the final score was 110-101, Warriors.
Golden State (65-15) withstood LaVine’s 37 points, as Curry tallied 34 points on 11-for-21 field, 5-for-11 downtown, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Klay added 23 points on 10-for-25 shooting, 3-for-9 beyond the arc. Green added 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists. Barnes collected 13 points and 12 rebounds.
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