The Nets came extremely close to shocking the NBA world by beating the Warriors in Oakland and ending their 10-game winning streak. After leading for most of the game they simply couldn't close it out despite having several chances and ended up going down in overtime, 107-99. Stephen Curry finished with 34 points while Andrew Bogut contributed 10 points and 18 rebounds off the bench.
NBA scores 2015: Warriors can’t lose, and 3 other things we learned
The Warriors played their worst game of the season and still managed to stay undefeated.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Brooklyn surprised Golden State early, taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter thanks to a fantastic performance by Thaddeus Young, who was 7-for-7 for the period. Things went back to normal after that. Curry started to heat up in the second quarter and the Warriors' defense held the Nets to just 18 points. At the break the score was 54-52. The lead Brooklyn had fought so hard to get had almost vanished and their chances of pulling off the upset seemed low.
No one expected the Nets, who had a 1-8 record entering Saturday's game, to hold off the league's best team from finishing the comeback, but they did it for a full 48 minutes. They tightened up their defense, allowing the Warriors just 18 points in the third quarter while grinding their way to 23. When the inevitable push came in the fourth quarter, they answered. They were up three points with nine seconds to go. It took an Andre Iguodala three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left to deny them the win.
The Nets had the last shot but Brook Lopez couldn't win it in regulation on a point blank shot.
After coming so close to losing, the Warriors came into overtime with a renewed focus. They ran the deflated Nets out of the building by scoring 10 straight points to keep their undefeated status.
Golden State was without Klay Thompson, trailed by as much as 17, didn't get the typical MVP-level play from Stephen Curry (13-for-31 from the field, four turnovers) and still got the win. They survived so much on Saturday that at this point, it's hard to imagine the streak ending anytime soon.
3 other things we learned
The Cavaliers are no longer streaking
The Cavaliers had won eight straight since losing their season opener to the Bulls and fought hard to extend their streak to nine against the Bucks, forcing double overtime despite trailing by 11 points at one point in the fourth quarter. Ultimately they couldn't close the game out as LeBon James, who played 45 minutes, missed two of his three shots and committed two turnovers in the final extra period.
Cleveland still leads the East with an 8-2 record and Kyrie Irving has not even made his debut yet. They have struggled with decent-to-good teams like the Bucks but have been lucky enough to have a soft schedule to start the year. They won't likely go on another eight-game winning streak playing like they did on Saturday but they don't really need to. They are already thinking about June.
As James Harden goes, so do the Rockets
The Rockets got surprised by a gutsy Mavericks team that came ready to play despite missing Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki. The loss in itself is bad enough, as it puts Houston at 4-6 for the season in the competitive Western Conference, but it also continued a worrying trend: The Rockets can't win when Harden Harden struggles.
Harden made up for a 5-for-21 night by going 14-for-14 from the line and notching 10 assists but he was not the dominant player the team needs to get victories. He has averaged 22 points on 30-percent shooting in the Rockets’ losses and 38 points in 46 percent in their wins.
A team not doing great when its best player doesn't perform well is not strange but with Harden not being consistent this season, Kevin McHale will have to find a way to get his team over the hump when The Beard is not sharp.
Jamal Crawford can still catch fire
The Clippers needed a win against the Pistons. They were coming off two losses and their next game is against the Warriors, so failing to beat Detroit at home could have meant a four-game losing streak. To pull it off they were going to need someone to step up and help Blake Griffin shoulder the offensive load, since they were missing Chris Paul, out with a groin injury.
Jamal Crawford answered the call, scoring 14 of his total 37 points in the third quarter to spark the comeback.
The explosion was surprising because the 35-year-old gunner had struggled greatly on the first eight games of the season, never scoring more than 15 points before scoring 18 against the Suns and catching fire against the Pistons. Age is finally catching up with Crawford but apparently he still has a few great games left in him.
Play of the night
Jabari Parker embarrassed the Cavaliers big men not once but twice. The NBA is better now that he's healthy.
1 fun thing
Final scores
Clippers 101, Pistons 96 (Clips Nation recap | Detroit Bad Boys recap)
Mavericks 110, Rockets 98 (Mavs Moneyball recap | The Dream Shake recap)
Bucks 108, Cavaliers 105 (Brew Hoop recap | Fear the Sword recap)
Spurs 92, 76ers 83 (Pounding the Rock recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Suns 105, Nuggets 81 (Bright Side of the Sun recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
Warriors 107, Nets 99 (Golden State of Mind recap | Nets Daily recap)
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