This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Minnesota Timberwolves, in which the Warriors took a 48-39 lead into the second half. Recall that Andrew Bogut left the game early in the first quarter with “knee irritation”.
3RD QUARTER: Curry Brings Order, Bench Unit Extends Lead
Festus Ezeli got the start for Bogut, which was heavy indication that Bogut would not play the rest of the game, and he didn’t.
Stephen Curry made it a point to bring order to the first-half farce, scoring on a tough layup at the rim with contact, after Draymond Green had secured a defensive rebound. A one-foot runner by Curry then made it 58-46 with 8:30 to go.
Harrison Barnes finally got on the board with a long two that was first ruled a three but then changed back to a two after a quick review by the referees. Barnes would miss an ensuing heat check shot from the opposite corner after Green got his hand on a bad interior pass by the ‘Wolves.
Marreese Speights then joined the party with a long jumper courtesy of a Curry behind-the-back bounce pass assist, making it 60-51 with 5:49 to go. Speights then got his second bank-shot tip-in, an amazing play where he just managed to get his hand on the hard rebound off the rim, a three-point brick by Andre Iguodala.
Shaun Livingston added his name to the guest list after that, using his long arm to nullify a Wolves entry pass, then leading the break and finding Curry for his first three-pointer in six attempts from the left elbow. Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders called a timeout. There was 4:04 left in the third and Golden State had built a 13-point lead, 69-56.
Speights got another tip-in after Green got another blocked shot, outletted to Curry, who got it back to Green on the trail for a strong layup that missed. Green followed that strong play getting low-post position early in transition. Livingston found Green, Green faked, the Wolves flew by, and Draymond finished the layup.
Saunders took another timeout, this time of the twenty-second variety.
But Livingston gave the Warriors yet another boost, finding Iguodala wide open under the rim for a dunk, then hitting two pull-up jumpers in a row from seventeen feet, the second of which closed out the quarter with 12.8 seconds remaining, a one-on-one play against Andrew Wiggins.
That gave Golden State a 77-63 lead heading into the final frame.
4TH QUARTER: Bench Guys Get Some Burn
Before departing for the rested Curry, Livingston added a few more highlights, scoring on a give-and-go with Iguodala in the corner, as well as a long-armed, swooping finger roll off the backboard that gave the Warriors a 20-point lead at 87-67 with 9:26 to go in the game.
It should be noted that, on two occasions in the fourth, Klay Thompson found himself in dribble penetration mode and ended his attacks with jump-stop-fake moves, resulting in his defenders flying by and getting the resultant easy layup.
Almost everyone had something to cheer about from this game, as Robbie Hummel muffed the ball into Barnes’ hands. Barnes immediately led a one-man break and scored a layup off the board in traffic.
Festus Ezeli got a baseline swish after Thompson attacked the rim with the shotclock winding down, delivering the assist.
Justin Holiday, who got a relatively early sub with 6:34 to go, splashed a three-pointer from up top with the assist going to Curry. That gave the Warriors a 94-74 lead.
Curry checked out at the 3:58 mark with the Dubs up, 98-78, and Ognjen Kuzmic got some garbage time, checking in at the 3:20 mark.
Livingston, Brandon Rush, and Leandro Barbosa did the mop-up work and the Warriors defeated the young Wolves handily, 102-86.
Thompson scored 21 points to lead the Warriors. Curry added 21 points and Speights contributed 12 points. Green led the team with 10 rebounds. Curry passed off for a team-high 7 assists for Golden State.
The Timberwolves were led by Wiggins with 21 points. Shabazz Muhammad was the second leading scorer for the Timberwolves at 14 points. Gorgui Dieng grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Zach LaVine led the losing team with 8 assists, but turned the ball over a team-high 6 times.
Golden State shot 46.2% from the field while the Minnesota shot 36%.
After their win, the Warriors are now 18-2 and the Timberwolves fall to 4-16 after their loss.
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