The Warriors morph into the most unstoppable team ever in the 3rd quarter

The Warriors had their backs against the wall, facing elimination at the hands of the Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. They had their backs against the wall, facing elimination at the hands of the Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, too, in nearly identical fashion.

But even though Houston built 10- and 11-point leads heading into halftime of two straight closeout games, the Rockets forgot to account for the Warriors’ trademark third quarter.

In Game 6, Golden State outscored Houston, 33-16, to reduce a once double-digit deficit to rubble. That massive quarter out of the break paved the way for 64-25 Warriors second-half run and a 115-86 victory to force Game 7 in Houston.

And then history repeated itself in Game 7. Down 11 after a brutal first half, the Warriors again surged, outscoring Houston by essentially the same score as in Game 6. This time, it was 33-15.

Those games were the highlight for an amazing trend for Golden State. The Warriors outscored opponents by 153 points in their 21 playoff third quarters this season, and a whopping 524 points when you add in their 82 regular-season games.

Golden State is like a lot like a lion; for all intents and purposes, they’re the king of the NBA jungle. The Warriors play with their food in the first and second quarters. They hang around just enough to keep things interesting.

And then it’ll be Durant who explodes in the third quarter. Or maybe it’s Curry who drains a demoralizing 35-foot three-pointer that fuels a run, like he did in Game 6 against Houston. Maybe it’s Thompson who scores without dribbling. Golden State has a number of weapons. In the third quarter they all come alive.

The Warriors led the NBA in the regular season, averaging 30.2 points per game in the third quarter. They outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 points per 100 possessions in the period during the regular season. It’s not just this season, either. The Warriors have led the league in third-quarter scoring in each of the past four seasons.

Remember when they hung 50 whole third-quarter points on the Clippers last February? How about when Klay Thompson scored 60 points back in 2015? Thirty-seven of those 60 came in the third, too. It’s a trend that’s followed Golden State throughout its championship crusade, and it’s carried over into the postseason, too.

The Warriors and Rockets had a shootout early in Game 1 and entered the half all tied up at 56 apiece. And then Golden State ran off one of its trademark incredible third quarters and built a lead as big as 13 with 2:23 left in the period. The Rockets never regained momentum. The Warriors won, 119-106.

Tied 56-56 at the half, it was the shootout NBA fans had begged for all season long. Durant and James Harden were going toe-to-toe. Curry and Thompson were balling out, but so were Chris Paul and Clint Capela. Had the second half mirrored the first, this one would have gone to the wire.

There was 6:36 remaining in the third quarter. Eric Gordon had just sliced through the lane for an uncontested layup to bring the Rockets within three. Then after Kevin Durant missed a three and James Harden missed a floater, Stephen Curry grabbed a rebound, dribbled up-court and found Klay Thompson for an open three in transition.

That’s a trademark Warriors’ possession. Golden State is king at turning defense into offense, and against their fast-paced offense, a missed shot is often just as bad as a turnover.

So when Harden actually turned the ball over on the next possession, it was only right the Warriors convert his give-away into points, too.

That prompted Mike D’Antoni to call a full timeout. The Warriors were heating up in the third. He wasn’t trying to let them blow this thing wide open. Houston didn’t have much of a choice.

Harden caught a pretty nasty dunk shortly after that timeout, but Curry responded with an easy layup. And after Kevon Looney cleaned up a Durant miss with an offensive rebound and dunk, Durant made up for his miss by lulling Nene into a deep slumber, crossing him over then pulling up for a wide open mid range jumper.

That pull-up shot gave Durant 13 points in the third quarter alone and 30 of his team-high 37 points. More importantly, it gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the game. It capped off a 12-2 run, and while that doesn’t seem like much, it was all the separation Golden State needed — the Dubs held that 13-point lead through the end of the game.

Nope.

The thing is, few have found the answer to this puzzling Warriors’ question: How do you prevent the most flammable team in the entire league from catching fire when after halftime? With so many options, it’s an impossible task.

The Rockets couldn’t extinguish the Warriors in Game 1, and they couldn’t stop that third quarter run in Game 6 or 7, either. The Cavaliers definitely couldn’t stop it with their season on the line in Game 4.

If they can’t do it, nobody can. The last four years prove it.