The Atlanta Hawks kicked off a five-game road trip Tuesday night with a 109-105 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors. Klay Thompson, playing without backcourt mate Stephen Curry, had a game-high 26 points.
Advertisement
The Golden State power forward apologized to his teammates, coaches and the organization for an emotional outburst during halftime of the Warriors’ 121-118 overtime victory Saturday at Oklahoma City. He missed eight games due to right ankle problems during the 2010-11 season, his second in the league, and required surgery the following summer.
Green hit big free throws and drove the lane late for the Warriors, as they picked up much needed points in the paint.
Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after making a three-point basket in overtime against the Atlanta Hawks at ORACLE Arena on March 1, 2016 in Oakland, California.
The MVP skipped practice on Monday and there were doubts that he would be part of the starting five for the game against the Hawks at home.
“Terrific victory”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. He also tied Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall for the single-game record with 12 3-pointers and broke his own record for 3-pointers in a season, setting the new mark at 288. When these teams met a couple weeks ago, Curry and Thompson combined for 63 points but the Warriors “only” scored 102, which was their sixth-lowest output of the season. Just a special, resourceful basketball player who rediscovered his long-range shot just in the nick of time. According to a recently published statistical analysis by Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, the Warriors have a 45 percent chance of tying the 1996 to 1997 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins and a 31 percent chance of claiming what would be the record-breaking 73rd win this season. Leandro Barbosa came off the bench to score nine of his 11 points in his first 5 minutes on the floor, while Bogut wound up with 19 points. We’ve never seen anything like him before and we won’t see anything like him ever again.
Advertisement
Brook Lopez had 23 points, while Thaddeus Young returned 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Nets, who have dropped four of their last six. But leading 104-103 inside a minute to go with the shot clock running down, Andrew Bogut made a desperation save of a ball headed out of bounds, and Green rushed up a wild shot from the wing but swished it. He averaged 43.8 points, 7.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals while the Warriors went 4-0.
