ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a huge 62-42 lead into the second half.
3RD QUARTER: Warriors Pull Further Ahead With 3-Point Barrage
Andrew Bogut continued his highly impactful play by getting a dunk on an alley oop by Draymond Green for an and-one where Dwight Howard picked up his fourth personal foul, converting the free throw, then getting a floater to drop.
The Warriors then went on two 9-0 runs as the Rockets could only counter with one 8-0 run of their own. After the first Golden State run, Stephen Curry picked up a technical foul for arguing a call to referee Tre Maddox, then committed an offensive foul on a charge.
Trevor Ariza then bumped Curry on the way down the court, which didn’t sit well with Curry, who charged back at Ariza, only to be intercepted by Green, who held back Curry from a physical confrontation. The officials reviewed the incident on tape and penalized Ariza with a technical foul:
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Another Bogut swat, this time on Donatas Motiejunas, sparked the Warriors’ second 9-0 run after “D-Mo” made a nice spin move to get past Green.
Klay Thompson then made three buckets in a row, getting a fade-away to fall with James Harden shadowed all over him, an open layup from the right baseline facilitated by a Bogut assist, and a short jumper from nearly behind the backboard after picking up a loose ball and faking out Motiejunas on the baseline.
Howard then picked up his fifth personal foul, another offensive foul this time trying to post up Bogut, and that forced Houston head coach Kevin McHale to insert backup center Joey Dorsey into the game for Howard.
Green wasted no time making the Rockets pay as Curry beautifully turned the right corner to go past the Houston defense on the right baseline, finding Draymond open for the no-hesitation three-pointer from the opposite side on the left elbow. Green celebrated by acting as if he were gliding down from a tall perch.
Draymond then celebrated again, throwing his hands up, after Bogut slammed home an alley-oop by Thompson. However, Houston reeled off an eight-point run punctuated by a Harden and-one, then a three-pointer, and Golden State head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 3:54 to go in the third quarter and the Warriors up, 84-64.
Iguodala then caught this lob by Thompson that looked short from press row:
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After Josh Smith was ejected for getting two straight technical fouls in a row for arguing with the officials, the Warriors won another three-point contest against the Rockets.
Curry passed up an open three-pointer with Kostas Papnikolaou switched on him early in the shotclock, but then, still dribbling, made a crossover and pulled up from straightaway, knocking down the triple. Iguodala followed that up with a no-hesitation, in-rhythm trey from the left elbow found by Curry.
Corey Brewer tried to get the Warriors back with his own trey, but once again, Curry answered that with a three-ball of his own, then went behind-the-back to crossover the bigger Dorsey, fading away from twenty-six feet. The ball bounced softly up from the rim, barely missing, but David Lee was there to tip it in at the buzzer.
That gave Golden State a 102-78 lead. Thompson led the Warriors with 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting, and Curry added 22 points on 7-for-11. The #SplashBrothers combined to shoot 16-for-30 on field goals and 5-for-11 from downtown. Curry also had 6 assists to Klay’s 5. Bogut added 9 points, 10 rebounds, Green had 18 points on 7-for-11 from the floor, and Barnes chipped in 11.
Harden led Houston with 33 points on 14-for-16 from the charity stripe, 8-for-18 field, 3-for-6 downtown, to go along with 6 assists.
4TH QUARTER: Second Unit Doesn’t Hold The Fort Well
The Warriors’ second unit started the quarter holding the fort, as Iguodala got this soaring layup to fall, assisted by Shaun Livingston:
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Another tip-in at the 6:12 mark by Lee gave him 10,000 career points and #Roaracle got loud after seeing the mark set on the jumbotron.
But the bench committed 3 turnovers and shot just 6-for-15 and Houston’s second team went on a 14-2 run to close the gap, capped with a Jason Terry right corner trey that hit both the rim and the backboard, only to fall back in. It was 114-103, Warriors, with 3:35 to play.
Kerr re-inserted Curry and Thompson, but Dorsey got a dunk assisted by Brewer and that gave Oracle a little scare as the lead got back to within single digits, 114-105.
But a side-step three-pointer from the left side by Thompson, a double-clutch dunk down the lane by Marreese Speights, and another #MoBuckets jumper from the left baseline assisted by Curry, put the nail in the coffin on the Rockets at 123-108 with 1:21 remaining.
Speights added a short-porch three-pointer from the right side to yield the final score of 126-113, giving the Warriors a four-game season series sweep of the Rockets in impressive fashion.
Klay went 10-for-21 from the field to lead the Dubs with 27 points, as Curry added 22 points and 10 assists on 7-for-12 shooting. However, Curry also committed 6 turnovers. Green chipped in 18 points, Barnes 11, Speights 9, and Iguodala 7. Lee collected 9 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Brewer led the Houston bench with 20 points, Terry chipped in 14, and Dorsey grabbed 12 rebounds in defeat, all team-leading totals aside from Harden’s numbers as mentioned at the end of the third period.
The Warriors pushed their record to an NBA-best 34-6 and will face Sacramento in two nights here at home.
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