ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Brooklyn Nets got stuck in traffic but eventually made their way to Oracle Arena to face the Golden State Warriors.
Hulk Hogan did a pregame intro:
RT @brodiebrazilCSN: Hulk Hogan giving the #warriors fans a pep talk. Can't lose tonight! pic.twitter.com/9qDmYQrA5t
— Let’s Go Warriors 💦💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) November 14, 2014
FIRST QUARTER
Stephen Curry started the game defending Deron Williams, ending the suspense Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had left after the pregame press conference.
Brook Lopez wanted to assert his presence early and he did so, challenging Andrew Bogut on every occasion he could. With 7:33 to go, Kerr called timeout with the Warriors down 18-11 with 7:33 to go. The Nets were 8-for-10 from the field at that juncture, with 6 of the 8 assisted on.
True to Kerr fashion, the Warriors scored a three-pointer out of the timeout, from Draymond Green at the left elbow. Green followed that up with another one in rhythm, as Harrison Barnes made a strong attack with his right hand and body into Lopez. The banker went too hard off rim, but Klay Thompson got the rebound and dished it to Green.
Andre Iguodala got his first burn early, entering at 6:02 and let fly a three-pointer with no hesitation, although it missed.
Kerr rewarded Marreese Speights and his stellar play of late with an early sub and Speights delivered yet again, making a jumper and then getting an offensive board that led to a Barnes and-one, again with the strong right hand.
The Warriors closed out the quarter down just 36-32.
SECOND QUARTER
Barnes kept cooking, as he made a strong pirouette-like move to get just enough past Alan Anderson, who fouled him. Barnes made both at the charity stripe.
Later, as the “Stretch Four” aginst Mirza Teletovic, Barnes got free on a fastbreak and Leandro Barbosa got him the ball. Barnes took a huge bounding step with the right hand once again and laid it up off the board.
That gave the Dubs a 44-42 lead with 8:13 to go and Nets coach Lionel Hollins called a timeout.
It was then Bogut’s turn to delight the crowd. After a bad screen, Bogut atoned by drawing a charge on the over-aggressive Lopez, then made two free throws (!). Soon after, Bogut found himself bringing the ball up and, with Kevin Garnett defending from the edge of the paint, made a gargantuan crossover right-to-left, attacking the the Nets with his left shoulder. Garnett had no choice to foul. Bogut made the bucket and pleaded for an and-one, but Garnett had clearly fouled him just outside the paint and before Bogut could qualify for a continuation.
It didn’t end there. Mason Plumlee had the ball faced up on Bogut in the low post and initiated the contact into Bogut, who countered by swooping his long arms down to block Plumlee’s shot, with Plumlee at an awkward angle. However, the referee called Bogut for his third personal foul. With 1:08 to go before halftime, Bogut checked out with Golden State up, 61-53.
The waning moments of the first half were where the Warriors got some separation.
Even though his previous shot had been an airball from long range, Iguodala stayed the aggressor and got a hoop and the harm, fading away inside the paint.
After Speights played tic-tac-toe with Thompson and Green for a bucket, Iguodala got by Williams in the early transition with a right-handed left shoulder fake that he slammed home, swooping down from the right side of the rim:
RT @bballbreakdown: Andre Don't Hurt 'Em #HammerTime #Warriors https://t.co/mi9I9paIx6
— Let’s Go Warriors 💦💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) November 14, 2014
That got the #Roaracle crowd on its feet, including co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, courtside.
Here was a bird’s eye view of Iguodala’s smash:
RT @GSWdelivery: Andre Iguodala with the sledge hammer!! #GSW #warriors https://t.co/g2agi5sh40
— Let’s Go Warriors 💦💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) November 14, 2014
Thompson closed the half with one of two free throws with 0.6 left, as Anderson was called for undercutting Klay. That gave Thompson a game-leading 14 points at the half. Kerr had called timeout before that to setup the last play, which was initiated by Iguodala and meant to get Klay the last jumpshot.
Speights contributed again that quarter, with 3 of his 4 rebounds on the offensive end and meaning no minutes for Festus Ezeli.
It was Warriors 66, Nets 55. The Dubs had only committed 3 turnovers. Green tallied 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Meanwhile, Curry had just 2 points on 3 field goal attempts and 3 assists, yet Golden State had assisted on 18 of their 25 made shots.
THIRD QUARTER
Coming out of halftime, the Warriors did well to hold serve. Here were some of the highlights:
- Kerr got Curry going immediately with the first play to him, resulting in a three-pointer.
- Lopez hooked Bogut on the way to the rim, but no offensive foul was called. Still, Green got a clean block of Lopez’s layup on the help.
- On a baseline out-of-bounds play, Curry and Thompson each looped around a Bogut high pick, reminiscent of Don Nelson‘s old play of getting Baron Davis open.
- Draymond had a bad semi-lob pass in to Barnes who was momentarily open down low. It easily got stolen and Green smacked himself in the head in disgust.
- Bogut blocked D-Will’s attack into the baseline seats, but it was after a Curry turnover.
- Curry got a three-point fly-by, courtesy of ball movement by Thompson, which made it 85-73 with 3:25 to go in the quarter.
- Speights got in on the action once more, blocking another Williams’ take.
At the end of three, the Warriors were up 87-75. Klay had collected 18 points and Green had an impressive statline of 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
FOURTH QUARTER
The final frame started out well for the Dubs, as Thompson got an open look from the left side, but the three-pointer rattled in-and-out of the rim. Bogut was there at the rim, however, and showed off his dexterity with a tip-in from the right side that missed, then tipping his own miss from the left side.
Bogut then got a steal on the ensuing possession and delivered a 45-foot chest pass to a streaking Curry for the runout layup. Hollins called timeout for the Nets and the Warriors were in command, 93-79.
After a couple of Nets buckets, the Warriors had the Nets on their heels with ball movement after Lopez somehow got switched onto Curry. Curry did what he could to keep that match up alive, even as Bogdanovic moved over to purposely double-team him way out in the perimeter, but Curry’s drive was called a charge as he tried to fend off Teletovic at the rim.
The Nets then went on a 9-0 run as Jarrett Jack brought back the Nets with big shot after big shot, largely with his patented fade-away from the free-throw line elbow.
With Jack manning the controls, Iguodala fell asleep on Bogdanovic, caught cheating on Jack’s live dribble. The three-pointer by Bogdanovic made it 93-88, Warriors.
On the next possession, Klay smelled blood when he got the ball and knew Joe Johnson couldn’t keep up. He drove hard left with enough room to bypass the defense, but lifted at an unbalanced angle and the fade-away rimmed off. Bogut saved the possession with a tip-out. Kerr called timeout to settle the team down. The Warriors were still up five with 5:43 to go.
Kerr once again got Curry a three-point try out of the timeout. With Bogdanovic flying in his face, Curry still managed to nail the triple. Up 98-90 with 4:20 to go, “Let’s go Warriors” chants started.
With Curry on the bench after a subsequent timeout, Bogut, Iguodala, and Barbosa connected on yet more team-oriented passing, prompting Curry to wave his hands, encouraging Oracle to get up on its feet. The arena obliged and the place transformed into “Roaracle”. Curry would then come in for Barbosa, as Iguodala closed the game out with the rest of the starters.
The Warriors held ground on defense and Klay drilled a trey with 2:15 to go to make it 103-94. After Jack kept the Nets’ hopes alive with yet another clutch shot, Bogut fed Draymond going from the top to the left elbow. Green immediately slinged the pass to an open Thompson under the basket. Klay’s lay-in gave the Dubs an insurmountable 105-96 lead with just 1:15 to go.
A steal by Thompson with 1:06 to play all but sealed the deal. Golden State eventually won, 107-99.
Klay led all scorers with 25 points, Bogut added 14 rebounds, Green had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Jack scored 23 points on 10-for-10 from the field.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
