ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is continuation of the first-half report of the Golden State Warriors preseason game versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
THIRD QUARTER
As mentioned in the halftime report, the concentration and enthusiasm level just didn’t seem to be there for the Warriors, as Klay Thompson turned it over on a touchdown pass attempt from Stephen Curry, which resulted in a Jared Cunningham driving slam dunk the other way.
However, Curry would soon take the game by its throat by:
- Flying down the court and drawing the foul to end the minute long drought to start the second half.
- Nailing a quick jumper from the wing, a nice find by Thompson.
- Splashing a three from the top.
- Delivering a behind-the-back pass to David Lee fro the lay-in, barely clearing Cunningham’s defense.
- Almost getting a four-point play, not needing to take a dribble to get back into rhythm.
Harrison Barnes added a nice driving layup in the mix, as well as a rejection of Jamal Crawford, and Lee returned Curry’s dime with his own.
Ognjen Kuzmic even led all players with a +19.
After Kuzmic subbed out and Marreese Speights in, the Warriors were rolling with Barnes at the “4” at Speights at the “5”, switching everything. DeAndre Jordan couldn’t close out on the smaller Speights, but other than Jordan there wasn’t much talent on the floor for the Clippers.
Holiday closed the quarter with a long-armed tip-in over J.J. Redick. After a Clippers timeout, Andre Iguodala got a steal and helped set up Draymond Green for the late-period three-pointer.
The Warriors headed into the final frame with a 97-85 lead. Curry led all scorers with 24 points and 6 assists. Kuzmic chipped in 8 rebounds, Lee had 12 points, and Barnes and Holiday added 9 points each.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Warriors started the fourth quarter with Iguodala, Holiday, Leandro Barbosa, Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli.
Where Curry impacted the third quarter, Ezeli did the fourth, while looking confident, mobile, and athletic.
A nice lob from Holiday that resulted in an alley oop slam was followed up by a nice post up play. He also had a nimble-looking baseline save of a ball, but finally missed a shot then almost decapitated Clippers guard Jared Cunningham with a block attempt.
At one point, Ezeli had 10 points in 8 minutes played, going 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line.
Meanwhile, Iguodala hit his third trey without any misses.
Barbosa activated his “Blur” super-power and led a one-man fastbreak that put the Warriors up 118-97. After that, the crowd subdued and the Warriors did mop-up work.
The Warriors went on to win, 125-107.
Curry led all scorers with a preseason-high 27 points on 9-for-12 from the field, 4-for-5 from downtown, to go along with 6 assists. His only blemish was the 5-for-8 from the free throw line.
The Warriors finished with seven players in double-digits, while Kuzmic tallied 10 rebounds. Among those seven in double-digits were Holiday with 12 and Ezeli with 10.
The Warriors also shot 59% from both the field and the three-point line, while holding the Clippers to 38.6% from the field and 35.7% from downtown.
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