ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Los Angeles Clippers at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 63-56 lead into the second half.
3rd Quarter – Clippers Take Lead In Paul’s Absence
Golden State started off the second half with a couple of alley oops to Festus Ezeli, both assisted by Draymond Green and, one of them, a hockey assist from Stephen Curry:
Out of time out, GORGEOUS Warriors set. Normally, weave for Klay ball screen. Cut him thru, get Ezeli lob pic.twitter.com/0t0wexfgB6
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 5, 2015
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Strangely, the game went Bizarro version of the first half as Chris Paul picked up his fourth personal foul against Curry, but the Clippers did well to inch back into the game.
J.J. Redick hit a three-pointer after a typical tap-out of an offensive rebound by the long DeAndre Jordan, then Blake Griffin made an impressive behind-the-back hesitation dribble and lofted an alley-oop “Lob City” style to Jordan.
That brought Los Angeles back to within four points, 77-73, with 3:53 to play in the quarter.
The Warriors uncharacteristically delved into fruitless one-on-one play, as Marreese Speights, Green, and Curry all missed jumpers with hardly anyone under the basket and as a result of rather stagnant offense.
Griffin made a jumper, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton decided against a timeout, and Curry missed a three-pointer from the right wing, again with no motion happening.
Austin Rivers, who had come in for Paul, then made a driving layup past Andre Iguodala, and the game was tied, 77-77, with 2:24 to play.
Golden State finally called timeout and Walton replaced Curry with Leandro Barbosa.
Speights missed, Jamal Crawford crashed in for a layup, Barbosa answered with a jumper off a curl, but Griffin answered with a banker from the left side, assisted by Crawford.
The Warriors’ second unit managed some free throws from Barbosa and Iguodala, but Crawford crashed in again and a layup on the right side trickled in with 8.1 seconds remaining.
The Clippers snatched the lead, 83-82, heading into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Curry Threes The Clips To Death
The Warriors stumbled out of the block in the fourth quarter. Shaun Livingston got called for a 50-50 charge in the lane near the restricted circle against Josh Smith.
Livingston and Speights drew blanks as Wesley Johnson and Josh Smith drilled triples.
The Clippers were pulling away, 95-87, as Walton called timeout with 8:18 remaining.
He inserted their “small-ball” lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and Green.
At first, things looked grim as Iguodala lost the ball, Klay dove for it, missed the ball, and Los Angeles had an easy layup for Crawford with Barnes the only one able to get back, 1-on-3.
But Barnes came back with a one-footed runner, then Curry played pick-and-roll with Green, who went down the lane receiving Curry’s pass, then found Iguodala on the wing, who found Barnes in the left corner for three.
Barnes came back with another triple from the right wing, assisted on a reverse pass by Thompson:
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The Warriors came back, 95-98, with 6:36 to play.
Jamal Crawford then put up a couple of terrible shots and Barnes got a slam dunk streaking down the lane, assisted by Iguodala.
After Paul Pierce made one of two free throws, Curry crossed over in front of Jordan beyond the arc and splashed a three:
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#Roaracle began chanting, “Warriors!” and Curry answered the call, pulling up from the top for three again and throwing his hands up.
The Warriors were up, 103-99, with 4:53 to go.
Curry dialed up three once more from the left corner, assisted by Iguodala, after a Griffin tip-in and a layup by Paul on a jumpball that got tapped out to him.
Green missed wide open from the top and Rivers streaked down the court for another layup to tie the game at 105-105 with 1:47 left, but after Iguodala missed a three and Jordan made one of two from the charity stripe, Steph got three more as he pulled up once again in front of Jordan:
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After an out-of-bounds review that went to the Warriors, Green tried to lob to Iguodala, but Iguodala got fouled and missed both free throws.
It was 108-106, Warriors, with 41.8 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Griffin seemed to lose the ball out of bounds but another review gave the ball to Los Angeles. However, Paul missed a three on the next sequence and Griffin fouled Curry on the rebound.
Curry made both free throws and Golden State took a 110-106 lead with 19.8 seconds remaining.
Out of a timeout by Clippers’ coach Doc Rivers, Paul made a runner with 13.8 seconds left and the Clips immediately fouled Thompson, with the score 110-108, Golden State.
Thompson made both free throws, Los Angeles called another timeout, and out of the timeout, Crawford couldn’t make anything happen.
He couldn’t find daylight, dribbled out, then back in towards the arc, only to get stuffed by Klay at the three-point line. Thompson recovered the ball, got it to Draymond, who ran out the clock.
The Warriors held on to win, 112-108, remaining undefeated at 5-0. The Clippers dropped to 4-1.
Curry scored 31 points on 8-for-17 field, 7-for-11 downtown, as all five starters scored in double-digits.
Paul led the Clips with 24 points, 9 assists, while Griffin added 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Warriors face the Denver Nuggets at home in two nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @tiffwaves510)
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