This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Houston Rockets.
Golden State took a 60-52 lead at halftime.
Q3: Separation After Some Lapses
Klay Thompson hit a three to start the second half, and Draymond Green added a drop-step off a spin in the post against the switched Patrick Beverley, but after Thompson missed in transition going 1-on-4, Green had a mini-collision in the paint and screamed in pain right before Trevor Ariza swished a triple from the left wing, and headed to the locker room:
[protected-iframe id=”714040e98587f02a7664b9f25d719182-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FanthonyVslater%2Fstatus%2F846897555925491713″ width=”550″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]He would come back later, diagnosed with a left tweaked ankle.
Harden and Curry then punched and counter-punched with free throws, a drive and a layup, then matching triples, but Steph lost the ball to aggressive Beverley defense leading to a run-out layup and prompting Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to call timeout with 7:54 remaining and the lead dwindled to 70-66.
Out of the timeout, Steph went pick-and-roll with JaVale McGee, swung the ball to Andre Iguodala, and Iguodala found McGee on the lob.
Later, Eric Gordon dribbled off his foot, resulting in Klay finding Iguodala on the break for a one-handed smash…
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After a JaVale steal of a Lou Williams attack, McGee got another lob, this time from Green from the deep right wing…
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Q4: Draymond And Steph’s Return Spark Dubs
The Warriors stretched their lead out to 93-82 with 7:52 to go, as Gordon grabbed Iguodala’s jersey on an inbound, Curry hit the technical free throw and scored a jumper on a hot-potato pass with Iguodala, plus a reverse layup…
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Later, Matt Barnes hit two consecutive jumpers from the left baseline to keep the Rockets at bay, 99-89, then Thompson denied Harden’s lefty drive…
[protected-iframe id=”3bb699299db79d8267eb8cc477796799-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F846909820540092416″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]…but to make matters worse for the referees’ look, with them already calling way more fouls on the Warriors, a loose ball that went out of bounds after a missed Ian Clark jumper, was ruled Golden State’s ball then changed to be a jump ball.
Livingston fouled Gordon on the scramble after the tap, and Gordon trimmed the Warriors’ lead to 99-94 with just 4:20 left, but Curry checked back in and fed Draymond for a nice floater after a pick-and-roll with him.
Green also got a beastly put-back of a missed left baseline jumper by Barnes, but was called again for a ticky-tack, this time on a screen set on a flopping Beverley at half-court:
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But Harden missed a layup too strong, Curry got the board on a double-deflection, and Draymond posted up and made an improbable baseline jumper trying to draw the foul unsuccessfully.
Then Harden went too hard left side off board again, now 4-for-18 from the field, and Curry ran pick-and-roll to draw a switch by Clint Capela and Steph stepped back for a splash in his face, forcing D’Antoni to call another timeout as the Warriors moved ahead, 110-99, with 1:46 to play:
[protected-iframe id=”bc55c24d97a05fa17bc90e49439dc7ef-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBATV%2Fstatus%2F846912805127110656″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Harden finally found the bottom of the net with a step-back triple out of the timeout, then added another bucket after an ill-advised trey attempt from Green to pull within 110-104, but Curry ran pick-and-roll again and, this time, hit a fading one-footer floater over Capela near the free throw line:
[protected-iframe id=”459fd3f5b9418253122946e693d9d687-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F846913439398166528″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]With just 46 seconds to go, that was a nail in the coffin, as Beverley got swatted by Klay on a drive.
But Curry committed his sixth turnover on the night on a bad dribble before half court, and Ariza found Capela for two more with time running out, the score 112-106 with just 13 seconds left.
Iguodala was fouled with seven seconds remaining, D’Antoni called timeout after Andre hit one of two, Ariza was whistled for a technical, although Steph missed his third free throw on the night, his third miss this game after 33 straight makes up until tipoff, but the game ended harmlessly, 113-106.
Golden State (60-14) now heads to San Antonio to face the Spurs in less than 24 hours.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @krystlecan2)
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