ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Philadelphia 76ers at the Golden State Warriors.
3RD QUARTER: Mo Buckets, No Problems
In a game that was quickly becoming a yawner, Marreese Speights got things started in unsurprising fashion with a right elbow jumper. He would add a nice putback on a missed Draymond Green three-pointer, getting it to go despite the length of Nerlens Noel.
Speights would finish the quarter with, per Warriors PR, his fourth 20-point game of the season, shooting 9-of-13 in 20 minutes of play, including 3 blocked shots, the last of which came on a layup attempt by Jerami Grant.
Stephen Curry then got cooking, getting a three-pointer to fall, assisted by Andre Iguodala. Curry then got his seventh assist on a Leandro Barbosa layup, his eighth on a drive that created an open trey from the left corner for Iguodala, and his ninth assist after grabbing a missed Tony Wroten layup in traffic, then dribbling the length of the floor to finish with a stutter step and drop-off for Iguodala, who streaked in for the reverse layup.
Curry would’ve had his 10th assist on a pretty behind-the-back, left-handed flick to David Lee, but Lee missed the shot, although he was fouled and split the pair of free throws, which made it 85-49 Warriors with 2:51 to play.
Barbosa seized the opportunity to get minutes ahead of Justin Holiday, converting a three-pointer and a layup before Grant made a thirty-foot buzzer-beater from the right elbow to trim the lead to 96-63 Golden State, heading into the final quarter.
4TH QUARTER: Chants Of Kooooooooz
Barbosa kept the hot hand as the fourth quarter began. Livingston lost the ball but then recovered it, dishing a low bounce pass while on the floor to Lee, who then didn’t see a wide-open Speights under the basket, but flung the ball out to Barbosa waiting on the left wing. Leandro drilled his second trey of the night.
Iguodala subbed out at the 9:59 mark with Holiday replacing him. Holiday promptly drilled a three-pointer and the Warriors were up by 40, 108-68.
Green celebrated with Livingston at the next timeout:
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Ognjen Kuzmic checked in at the 8:39 mark and immediately got a slam dunk assisted by Holiday. #Roaracle let out a short chant of, “Kooooooz!” as he ran back down on defense. He would finish with 6 points on 2-for-2 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the line.
Brandon Rush made an appearance at the 6:32 mark and closed things out with Kuzmic, Holiday, Barbosa, and Lee.
The Oracle crowd also gave a nice hand to former Warrior Jason Richardson, who is out until the end of January with a left knee injury (see story by Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle).
#Roaracle just gave a big hand to @jrich23, who has been out with a left knee injury… #DubNation #Warriors #76ers pic.twitter.com/PUvAMIxft9
— Let’s Go Warriors 💦💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) December 31, 2014
The final score was 126-86, Warriors, in a game that many on Twitter referred to as a Harlem Globetrotters victory over their hapless opponents, the Washington Generals.
Speights led all scorers with 23 points, once again shining against his old team, to go along with 4 blocked shots. Thompson, who had subbed out with 5:24 left in the third, finished with 14 points, but also 4 turnovers. Curry, who subbed out with 1:15 to play in the third, had 13 points, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. Green collected 10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocked shots. Barbosa tallied 17 points off the bench, Lee had 13, and Holiday added 11.
38 of the Warriors’ 46 field goals were assisted and the team ended with 19 steals and 11 blocked shots. The Sixers committed 27 turnovers.
The Sixers were led by Henry Sims with 19 points and Michael Carter-Williams only mustered 4 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
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