ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the San Antonio Spurs at the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors took a 62-55 lead into halftime.
3RD QUARTER: Warriors Smell Blood
The Warriors bridged their momentum into the third quarter, getting an Andrew Bogut hook, an and-one by Stephen Curry driving the right side, and another Curry jumper — a 26-9 run in which Curry scored or assisted on 22 of the 26 points.
Golden State’s offense was clicking, as Draymond Green made a layup and-one but missed the free throw, and Klay Thompson followed that up with a catch-and-shoot three-pointer off of the team’s high action.
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Tim Duncan got yet another inside shot disrupted by Bogut and, when Green got the defensive rebound, Duncan purposely fouled Green, stopping the action so the long-time veteran could bark at the ref and perhaps influence a call later in the game.
But Andre Iguodala added a three-pointer swish from the right side, assisted by Curry, and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had no choice but to call timeout with the Spurs now down, 74-60, with 7:34 to go in the third.
Things got a little sloppy after that for the Warriors, as Manu Ginobili stripped Thompson and made him pay with a layup on the other end, then Leandro Barbosa short-rimmed an open trey, and ran into Curry chasing the ball. The Spurs couldn’t convert on the other end, but Steph drove into traffic on the way back and got his layup blocked by Ginobili in some thick traffic.
Spurs center Tiago Splitter found himself alone in the block against Harrison Barnes and muscled his way in for a putback after banking the first shot too hard.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sensed the beginning of a potential San Antonio run, and called timeout, up 78-68 with 2:18 left in the quarter.
Kerr was right, and then some, as the Warriors closed yet another frame with a burst, going on an 11-0 run to end the third.
After David Lee got a dunk on a feed by Barbosa on a set baseline out-of-bounds play, Lee blocked a Boris Diaw hook, then found Iguodala open on the left side after running pick-and-roll on the right with Curry. That made it 83-68, Warriors.
Curry got a mismatch against Splitter on the right side and stepped back for a three-pointer early in the shotclock, but in an effort to go two-for-one with just 40 seconds remaining.
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After Marco Belinelli missed a three-pointer, #Roaracle got up on its feet and, as Splitter left his man in the block to double Curry up top, Steph sent the ball over to the right side to a wide-open Iguodala and, once again, Andre hit the bottom of the net, his third triple of the night.
Lee swatted away a Patty Mills desperation shot at the buzzer and the Dubs took a dominating 89-68 lead into the fourth quarter, with Oracle Arena chanting, “Warriors!” during the intermission.
4TH QUARTER: Threes Close It Out
Curry played the entire quarter again, so sat out the beginning of the fourth. Back-to-back threes by Corey Joseph and Reggie Williams helped the Spurs second unit bring the score back down to 96-81 and Kerr called timeout to regroup, with 7:48 left to go in the game.
Thompson added a trey from the right corner, Iguodala splashed again — his fourth of the night — and Green cried out in triumph after adding his own triple from the right elbow, and the Warriors had 105-83 lead at the mandatory TV timeout.
Yet, with 3:21 to go and the game well in hand, as well as many in #DubNation heading for the exits early, Kerr brought back in the starters, with the exception of Iguodala in for Barnes. At the 2:54 mark, Festus Ezeli came in and immediately got a blocked shot against Joseph.
Kerr eventually emptied the bench with 1:45 to go and the still 80%-full Roaracle gave the starters a hand, especially Curry for his 25-point, 11-assist performance. Curry shot 8-for-17 from the field and 4-for-8 from downtown. Thompson added 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Barnes added 16 points, 5 rebounds and Iguodala tallied 14 points and 6 rebounds on 5-for-8 field, off the bench. Green had a nice line with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Lee also had 11 points off the bench, not missing on 5 attempts.
The road-weary Spurs were led by 12 points by both Leonard and Aron Baynes, while Tony Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili each were limited to single-digits.
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