This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors took a dominating 54-31 lead into the halftime break.
3RD QUARTER: Klay Lights It Up!
Klay Thompson got hot right out of the second half gate, scoring 11 consecutive points, in a stretch of a little over two minutes, on a jumper that trickled in, then three straight treys, the last of which was set up beautifully by Stephen Curry as he dribbled into two or three Raptors, then pivoted and dished the ball back the Thompson for the triple.
Toronto head coach Dwane Casey had no choice but to call timeout with 9:47 to play, now down by a whopping 65-33 score.
During the timeout, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr drew up a play that used Thompson as a decoy, and Draymond Green got an easy layup as the Raptors were fooled by Klay setting the pick rather than receiving it, with Andrew Bogut delivering the left-handed line drive assist.
At that point, Casey had had enough, and subbed in an entire new lineup of five players. But it didn’t help, as the Warriors starters next went “tic-tac-toe” with a nice Curry-to-Green-to-Bogut for a layup, giving the Warriors a 69-35 lead with 7:17 to play in the third.
Golden State continued their passing onslaught, as Curry converted a give-and-go and-one with Harrison Barnes, Bogut caught a lob that was supposed to be an alley-oop, but found Barnes for a triple, Green got a banker assisted via a pass back from Thompson, and Klay then blocked a three-point attempt by Terrence Ross, then got the outlet, led the break, and tossed an alley-oop to a trailing Barnes.
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Curry got a steal, stopped and popped for three, and all of a sudden the Dubs were up by forty, 86-46, with 4:04 left in the third.
With 3:34 left to play, Festus Ezeli got the playing time Warriors observers thought he would, with Andre Iguodala sitting the game out for rest.
Another Curry steal led to another Curry trey, but then with just 4.2 seconds remaining, Ezeli got entangled with Tyler Hansbrough on a Shaun Livingston made jumper, and as the two separated, Ezeli felt it necessary to confront Hansbrough as a result of the physical play, grabbing Hansbrough momentarily by the throat.
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Hansbrough retaliated and arms flailed, with the referees immediately ejecting the Toronto power forward, who has a reputation of physical play. After several minutes of TV replay review, the officials also ejected Ezeli, who seemed to be the instigator. To his credit, Festus had cooled down and never displayed any anger, but it remains to be seen if he will be suspended for a game or two as a result of his seeming starting the altercation.
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The quarter ended on that downer with Golden State up, 98-57, a 44-point quarter. Thompson finished his night with 25 points on 9-for-18 field, 5-for-8 downtown, plus zero turnovers, and Curry added 22 on 8-for-13 shooting, 3-for-5 beyond the arc, plus 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Green had an impressive 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 3-for-5 downtown, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocked shots, while Bogut added 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, but also 3 turnovers.
4TH QUARTER: Bench Unit Pads Their Stats
Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Justin Holiday, Marreese Speights, and David Lee came in for the starters and promptly gave up 11 straight points to Toronto before Barbosa broke the uninspired play with a driving layup.
With 7:06 to play and the game well in hand, Holiday, who had struggled on the night, took a seat and Brandon Rush got some rare burn with the Warriors up, 100-68.
Even seldom-used players Greg Stiemsma, Chuck Hayes, and Landry Fields (who has been coming off of an injury) made appearances in the mop-up work to end the game. Holiday came back in later for Livingston.
The bench unit’s defense was a bit porous at times, but the goal was to let the clock tick away and Livingston, Barbosa, Speights, and Lee all almost finished with double-digit scoring. Livingston had 11 points, 8 assists, and Barbosa had 11 as well, while Speights and Lee chipped in 8 apiece.
The Warriors held the Raptors to 31-for-77 shooting (40.3%) and 4-for-22 (18.2%) from three-point-land. The team also tallied 11 steals, 5 blocked shots, and forced Toronto into 19 turnovers. The Dubs also had 31 assists on their 42 made field goals.
Golden State will head to Boston to face the Celtics in two nights on Sunday.
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