Lyou Golden State Warriors went through a lot of trouble this Saturday to beat some Brooklyn Nets (110-106) in which a large Kyrie Irving it had to be multiplied to make up for the absences of the injured James Harden and Kevin Durant. The point guard, who can only play away games because he has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, signed his best performance of the season with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
Irving also had Patty Mills as a luxury squire with 24 points (6 of 8 in triples).
Andrew Wiggins (24 points and 8 rebounds) was the top scorer for some Warriors in which Stephen Curry He had a very difficult night again in the lead (19 points with 5 of 18 shots, 7 rebounds and 8 assists).
More exciting than brilliant (both teams moved around 40% shooting), the duel was decided 9 seconds from the end when the score was 107-106 for the Warriors and Kyrie Irving was called for an arguable foul on Klay Thompson without the ball being in play, which gave the home team a free kick as well as possession to close out the win.
The Mexican Juan Toscano-Anderson I played 11 minutes for the Warriors in which I had 6 points and a rebound.
This victory marks the fifth in a row for the Warriors while the Nets extend their crisis and already have four straight losses.
Round trip
In a night with many stars per square meter he was a secondary actor as Nic Claxton who, with 5 points, starred in the start of the game (9-11 with 7.36 on the clock).
With Stephen Curry missing on offense (he only had 2 points in the first half), the Warriors’ other All-Star, Andrew Wiggins, monopolized the offense with a splendid display of resourcefulness that disarmed a timid Nets (31-20).
The reaction of those from Brooklyn came in the second quarter at the hands of Kyrie Irving and Patty Mills, a very dynamic two that began to find cracks in the local fabric (37-33 with 8.59 for the break).
Very cunning and evasive, Mills hit two straight 3-pointers that gave the Nets the lead back.
But then a brave man appeared Otto Porter Jr. who, with 8 points in the last five minutes of the first half, led an 11-4 run with which the Warriors regained control (54-47).
In a back-and-forth first half, neither team showed much shooting accuracy, although the Nets especially suffered from their lack of 3-point shooting (4 of 18).
Irving alone is not enough
The local team left the locker room with their batteries recharged and, relying on a substantial improvement in their defense, they threatened to decide the match very soon (66-49 with 9:15 to go).
The Nets were beginning to make the game very uphill.
Porter Jr., imposing on his drives, pierced the Nets’ defense time and time again while Wiggins continued to score too easily.
Then Irving came back to life.
The point guard put the Nets on his back, began to loosen up in attack and hit the table with one more triple to announce to the four winds that the visitors were back (76-70 with 2.05 to go).
Irving had 14 points in that quarter alone and benefited from the veteran and strength of LaMarcus Aldridge, which closed all the holes in the inside game and left the Nets very alive before the final quarter (78-76).
However, bad luck struck Aldridge as he sprained his left ankle and had to leave the match early in the last twelve minutes.
The Warriors got off to a running start with a 7-0 run, but the Nets took advantage of Curry’s two turnovers in a row to tie the game with a very grown Mills (93-93 with 6:17 to go).
With the scoreboard moving in very small areas, a triple by Klay Thompson with 12.5 seconds to go seemed definitive (107-103).
However, Irving pulled a new and spectacular three-pointer out of his hat (107-106 with 10 seconds remaining) that led to a denouement in which the free throws, and the referee’s decisions, smiled at the Warriors.
