This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors held a 62-57 lead heading into the third quarter. The Rockets announced that Ryan Anderson (illness) would not be available for the second half.
Q3: Push, Splash, And Mac
Draymond Green got a layup lefty from the inbound as the Rockets fell asleep, then Kevin Durant got his second iso crossover of the night, nicely finishing with a reverse:
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Pachulia then hit free throws after posting up Harden, the entry pass by Green.
Later, Draymond found Kevin Durant nicely inside on the same sequence twice, the first drew a foul, the second scored a bucket.
Zaza hit more free throws, Steph found KD inside…
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Zaza the Enforcer stands tall again! Chemistry better every day. #OKCvsGSW #doubleteam #jamesharden lockdown #LetsGoWarriorsLive pic.twitter.com/NGZU7l7aUZ
— RONALD BOTTANO (@RBOTTANO) January 21, 2017
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Out of the timeout, Clint Capela suddenly played like it was his birthday, scoring inside, slamming home a Harden alley-oop…
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However, during this stretch, the Warriors went on a tear. Draymond hit a three from the top, left open as the Rockets doubled Curry, then Steph threw a lefty sling pass to Zaza on the slip of a pick-and-roll, Klay found Pachulia down low, who shoveled to KD for a two-hand jam, and Steph hit a deep triple on the catch from Durant after Capela missed inside:
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Out of the timeout, Durant stole a pass inside by Capela, race upcourt, found Steph on the right wing, who let a Rocket fly-by for the splash.
Houston made a mini-comeback, but Curry made one of two throws, Klay hit a catch-and-shoot trey, and Harden went coast-to-coast after Steph smoked a layup resulting from a Harlem Globetrotters’ “Curly” display of dribbling against Sam Dekker.
After a timeout to settle the game down a bit by Kerr, James McAdoo came in, immediately got an offensive rebound of a Thompson miss, drew a foul on the next miss on the rebound, and made both free throws.
McAdoo then got a two-hand smash in transition from a lefty bouncer by Andre Iguodala after Dekker missed a three, and Curry went pick-and-roll with “Mac” for yet another two-hand jam via overhead pass.
The Rockets scored twice, including another Dekker hustle offensive putback, before KD hit a jumper, and the Warriors went into the final frame with a 99-79 lead.
Q4: Time Runs Out For Houston
Kerr had Shaun Livingston, Klay, Iguodala, Kevon Looney and Draymond start the fourth quarter, and things weren’t pretty on the offensive end.
However, Looney did get an “and-one” on a putback of Livingston’s airball.
Meanwhile, Houston trimmed their deficit to 102-86, once again getting a Dekker hustle offensive rebound and Patrick Beverley drilling a three on the second chance bucket.
But after a timeout by Kerr, Draymond beasted for an offensive rebound lay-in…
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Golden State still led by twenty, 108-88, with under six minutes to go.
For the stretch run, KD hit two of the three free throws, Livingston got a jumper to drop, so did Durant, then Capela missed a layup, Iguodala boarded, fed Durant, who dished a no-look to Curry from the left side for three more, and D’Antoni waved the white flag with 3:26 to go, the Warriors up an insurmountable 117-93.
Both coaches emptied their benches to close out the game, and Kerr had Ian Clark, Thompson, Patrick McCaw, Looney and McAdoo.
McCaw hit two threes and added a left-side drive for a quick eight points in the process as the Warriors finished off the Rockets with a final score of 125-108.
Durant led all scorers with 32 points on 12-for-19 field, Curry tallied 24 and 5-for-11 from beyond the arc, Klay collected 16 points but shot only 2-for-10 from distance, and Draymond had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Harden was limited to 17 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, and only 5 free throws. The Rockets were 7-for-35 from downtown.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @alb23rob)
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