This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the OKC Thunder.
The Warriors held a 73-50 lead at halftime.
Q3: Words
Klay Thompson hit a three to start the third stanza, but after a couple misses, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called an early timeout as Russell Westbrook hit a downhill layup and Olidapo added a triple, but Golden State still held a 76-55 lead with 10:33 remaining.
Free throws from JaVale McGee and Draymond Green, then Thompson hit a 3 in Victor Oladipo’s eye on the catch, after Olidapo hit a bucket.
Later, after Kevin Durant took advantage of an “iso” against Domantas Sabonis…
[protected-iframe id=”dba2d906bea6bfa15885e5b2445cf25f-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F830616830632800258″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]…Westbrook took Durant down the left side for a tough banker. Courtside reporters said that Durant told Westbrook that was an offensive push-off.
Curry came back with an inside-out dribble down the left side, feeding JaVale for an easy basket at the rim, but Westbrook used a pick at the arc on KD with Steph looming to simply pull-up and bury a triple for his 33rd, 34th, and 35th points on the night:
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[protected-iframe id=”09950ee4c779d9b185f7511e46fef672-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRachel__Nichols%2Fstatus%2F830623076882776064″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Oladipo added a three on the catch from Russ and more talking ensued with Durant as Kerr took a timeout, OKC creeping back to a 94-76 deficit with 4:25 remaining.
The chippiness continued as Kevon Looney botched a pass inside from Curry, which forfeited a layup, resulting in a pass back out to Steph, on a sequence which ended with Iguodala air-balling a desperation three at the shot clock buzzer. Iguodala wasn’t happy and had words with Looney.
Westbrook hit another three, Curry then drove, lost the ball, but recovered it and gave an up-fake to have Jerami Grant fly by, for the layup.
One possession later, Durant drove, got the basket to drop, and was fouled by Andre Roberson. More words exchanged, the two ended up touching foreheads, they were separated, Iguodala was assessed a technical after a referee seemingly got in his way during the altercation, with Iguodala not liking being touched, but the Warriors maintained a 20-point lead:
[protected-iframe id=”5971146284138e78c87323470bb2ff78-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRealGM%2Fstatus%2F830619392970940416″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]On the last play of the quarter, Westbrook crossed Iguodala from the top and soared down the lane for a righty jam, and the Warriors took a 105-88 heading into the final frame.
Q4: Russ Does What He Can
Kerr started James McAdoo for the fourth quarter and he immediately got a dunk on a cut, fed by Iguodala, nearly blocked Matt Lauvergne from behind, drew a trip to the line on an inside feed from Shaun Livingston, but missed both free throws, and forced a held ball with Oladipo, winning the jump ball.
But Green missed a dunk, Thompson missed a three, and Draymond lost the ball on a drive, then pouted to the refs, as OKC raced the ball up-court and found Anthony Morrow on the right wing for a catch-and-shoot trey, reducing the Warriors’ lead to a respectable 108-96 with 8:40 to play as Kerr called a timeout:
[protected-iframe id=”6d3e5bfc446dd4f2a7865adc0ecb3589-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F830624553097261060″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Curry got swatted by Adams on the next play, and, on the break, Westbrook drew Durant’s fifth personal and converted both free throws.
However, Steph swung the ball over the Klay, who up-faked Westbrook, who couldn’t help but reach in, and Thompson was awarded three free throws although replays indicated a closer look. The referees gave Klay three shots and he hit them all, never reviewing whether or not Thompson’s foot was on the line on the attempt.
Roberson got a dunk from Oladipo after Green smoked another layup attempt, although he had a nice “hesi” move to shake the defense, but after Klay lost the ball and retained possession after a drive past Adams, Durant rattled in the baseline inbound pass from Curry.
Roberson then lost the ball to Steph, who eventually reset the ball up top to Draymond, who cleared Thompson out of the left side, gave the ball to Durant, and KD swished from the left hashmark:
[protected-iframe id=”1e3b525de9cc6409dbed1c83acb1d2d1-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fcjzero%2Fstatus%2F830628567553810432″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]That gave Durant a team-high 34 points as OKC head coach Billy Donovan called timeout, the Warriors taking 123-104 lead with just 3:39 left.
After the break, Draymond threw a touchdown pass to Klay for a one-handed dunk after an OKC miss, Westbrook notched his 45th and 46th points on the night, but KD found Green inside and Curry hit a step-back triple from the right wing, giving him 26 points, and Kerr called timeout on the Warriors’ next possession to empty the bench.
Kerr ended the game with Briante Weber, Ian Clark, Patrick McCaw, Looney, and Damian Jones.
Clark threw the ball away and traveled on a drive, Jones missed two free throws from the line after getting fouled at the rim, Weber got blocked by Sabonis on an attack, and Golden State (46-8) eventually won by the final score of 130-114.
The Warriors will head to Denver to face the Nuggets in two nights.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account @perry_toppah)
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