ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a slim 58-54 lead into halftime.
3RD QUARTER: Warriors Need A Little Help From Chef Curry
Golden State’s shooting woes continued as a lone three-pointer by Klay Thompson was sandwiched between six other misses: a Draymond Green missed triple, two by Stephen Curry, then a missed jumper by Curry followed by two more missed triples by Thompson.
#Roaracle tried to bring some energy by chanting, “Defense!”, but it was to no avail.
Andrew Bogut got a dunk on a late cut after Curry dribbled into the teeth of the Lakers defense with Ed Davis helping.
But the Lakers answered right back as Wesley Johnson drilled a three-pointer after passing to and receiving a return hand-off from Tarik Black. That tied the game at 65-65.
Curry came back with a stop-and-pop jumper, but Jordan Clarkson recovered his own missed shot in the lane. On the next sequence, Thompson took it strong the hole and got two free throws but ended up hobbling.
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He would stay in the game for most of the remainder of the quarter.
It seemed the Warriors would never shake the Lakers loose after Carlos Boozer set a pick on Curry as Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball, then Lin found Davis open underneath, who found Boozer nearby for the easy bucket. That made it 75-74, Warriors, with 2:29 to go in the third frame.
But “Chef Curry” reached into his kitchen cabinet and pulled out a step-back three-pointer on a swing pass by Bogut, with Lin lunging too late.
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Then, with the shotclock winding down, Andre Iguodala stole a page from Chris Paul‘s book of defense, keep a forearm on Johnson’s body as he shot a fade-away and bricked it. On the other end, Curry got a swing pass with Johnson flying by, faked the three-pointer, only to have Wes recover in time to bother the shot. The only problem was, it was too much contact and the shot went through. Curry did well to draw the last-second contact.
That put the Warriors up, 78-74, with 2:07 to go in the third period. After nice defense by Lin forced Curry into a bad dribble into the left corner, charging into Lin with just over 20 seconds to play…
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…Shaun Livingston spelled Steph and ended the quarter. Lin missed a jumper at the buzzer and the Warriors had an 82-78 lead heading into the final frame.
4TH QUARTER: Foul When Up Three
Curry started the quarter with two free throws after the referees deemed a foul committed late in the previous quarter was not granted two penalty free throws, so Steph buried both and the Warriors had an 84-78 lead before the last quarter.
Thompson, skipping on his slightly rolled ankle to keep it loose as he subbed in came back in to close out the game, after a nice crossover jumper by Livingston against the switched Davis made it 89-84, Golden State, with 9:14 to play.
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The rollercoaster ride was just beginning as Iguodala made an impact, getting inside the paint, pivoting, and finding Green for a layup after a fake. Iguodala then got a dunk via a Livingston no-look pass, after Klay blocked Boozer inside and Jabari Brown went too hard off the glass.
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Lin then led the Lakers’ climb back, delivering a scoop pass to Boozer after Klay had made a nice cut, but got his layup blocked cleanly by Davis. That trimmed the Golden State lead to 95-91 with 5:39 remaining.
Curry came back in with 5:27 left, but immediately committed his sixth turnover, lofting an alley-oop pass to Bogut that went too strong and hit off the rim. Wayne Ellington missed a three-pointer, but Boozer got the offensive rebound and Jordan Hill got a jump hook to fall via a nice entry pass from Johnson.
The Lakers had evened the score, 95-95, with 4:45 to go.
But just when the Warriors needed a bucket the most, Thompson came through as he received a pass on the left from Curry at the top, took one dribble left, and stopped and popped for a swish from downtown.
As much as Lin drew the Lakers even, he gave it away, making a bad jump pass inside that Bogut easily stole. Curry led the break and went behind-the-back to Iguodala, who stopped, took a dribble, and dunk it with two hands.
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Lin then lost the ball to Curry, although Lin complained vehemently to the referee for a call. Curry’s dagger three-point attempt hit back iron, and Lakers head coach Byron Scott called timeout with 3:30 to play and the Warriors up, 100-95.
The Lakers, however, took too much time in the ensuing possession, with Ellington bricking the ball as Thompson had both hands outstretched in his face. Later, Curry almost lost the ball, but Bogut was alert enough to call timeout with Steph on the floor trying to get it out of trouble.
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Green got a nice steal of Johnson’s entry pass and Klay got a layup to go with Hill goaltending the attempt and, after Boozer made a bunny inside assisted by Clarkson, Bogut tipped a missed trey by Thompson twice for the putback bucket. It was 104-97, Warriors, with 1:57 left.
Johnson made a desperation shot over Iguodala, and Green missed a point-blank layup on a nice pass inside by Iguodala, which answered by a Clarkson jumper in the paint in front of Bogut. That made it 104-101, Golden State, with 57 ticks to go.
Both teams traded misses as Klay was short on a jumper, Clarkson’s layup went too hard off glass, and Curry’s step-back went too hard back iron. Scott called timeout with 9.5 seconds left, still 104-101.
With 6.3 seconds left, Green seemed to have picked the ball from Clarkson, but was called for the foul.
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Clarkson made both free throws. Curry was fouled, made both, then Green immediately fouled the inbounds to Ellington because the Warriors were still up three.
Ellington extended the free throw contest and Curry was fouled once more, now with 3.4 remaining. After both free throws converted with the Dubs back up by 3, with no timeouts, the Lakers inbounded to Johnson at halfcourt, who turned and dribbled in an attempt to get a three-pointer off at the buzzer.
But Draymond’s long arms interfered again, this time cleanly, and the ball was off Johnson’s leg as it went out of bounds.
Iguodala passed the inbound to Green and time expired.
The Warriors escaped with a 108-105 victory. Klay led all scorers with 26 points on 10-for-22 shooting, 3-for-9 downtown, which put him one short of 200 made three-pointers for three straight seasons, a feat only accomplished by Curry and the great Ray Allen. Curry, who had 2 points at the half, finished with 19 on 5-for-14 field, with 9 assists. Green tallied 16 points, 8 rebounds, Harrison Barnes added 11 early points, and Iguodala had 8 points, 6 assists off the bench. Livingston also had 4 assists off the bench.
The Lakers had five players in double-figures, led by Clarkson and Ellington each with 17. Hill had 15-and-12, Boozer 10-and-9.
Next up: the Hawks in two nights!
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