Rewind: ‘Phenomenal' Bogut leads Warriors, swats away upset

Share

OAKLAND – Early fourth quarter, close game, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the bench and the Houston Rockets were ready to make their move, silencing the Oracle Arena crowd and snapping the string of futility against the Warriors.

So they charged into the paint again and again. The Rockets kept trying Andrew Bogut, and the 7-foot Aussie kept smacking them down until the Warriors were back in command, finally finishing off a 123-110 victory Tuesday night.

[RECAP: Instant Replay: Warriors take flight, out-slug Rockets]

“Bogut was phenomenal,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Bogut responded out of general need and through immediate urgency. With backup center Festus Ezeli out for at least six weeks, Bogut can expect more minutes than usual. The demands are greater, and for longer stretches.

And on this night, with those extra minutes coming against Dwight Howard and the game tied 93-93 entering the final quarter, the need to perform reached exigent levels. Bogut delivered, blocking three shots in the first four minutes of the quarter, a span during which the Warriors reeled off a pivotal 12-3 run.

Bogut didn’t win the game. He simply ensured the Rockets would lose.

“I’ve not been playing the best and I’m the first to admit that,” Bogut said.

[POOLE: Ezeli’s absence forces adjustments for Kerr, Warriors]

Consider this restitution to his teammates. Bogut finished with 13 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and season-highs in blocks (six) and steals (three).

“Best game he’s played in a long time, both ends of the floor,” Kerr said. “I thought he was dominant.”

All the more impressive was that Bogut played out of rotation, something he’ll have to do more often with Ezeli out. He normally sits to open the fourth, but there he was taking the court with a lineup rarely used by Kerr: Bogut at center, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala at forwards, Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa at guards. That group hit the Rockets so hard, so fast, they couldn’t see straight.

Iguodala and Barnes nailed 3-pointers in the opening minute for a six-point lead and Houston never recovered, lifting their record to 47-4, the best record ever through 51 games.

“The surge from the bench to start the fourth quarter gave us the separation we needed,” Kerr said.

The Warriors outscored Houston 30-17 in the quarter, spoiling any hopes for an upset. The Rockets (27-27) have lost eight consecutive regular-season games to the Warriors.

“You can’t afford to make mistakes against this team, whether it’s their first unit, whether it’s their bench . . . they’re deep and they’re that good,” Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

Steph Curry did more than his part, finishing with 35 points and nine assists. Barnes scored 17 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter – the most prolific quarter of his career – to serve as the offensive counterpoint to Bogut’s defense.

“I was proud of him to have the second half and fourth quarter that he had,” Bogut said of Barnes. “It’s a huge positive from him to see that he stuck with it and hit some big shots for us.”

[RELATED: Speights: 'Gotta give these fans something to cheer about']

Marreese Speights and Bogut shared the majority of the minutes at center and made quite a statement, combining for 28 points (10-of-19 shooting) and 15 rebounds. It’s just the kind of production that will make Ezeli’s absence much easier to absorb.

“It’s always good to see Andrew be aggressive on offense,” said Speights, whose 15 points came in 12 minutes. “It makes me happy when I see him doing that, so I just come in and do the things that he was doing. I’m glad he got it going on offense.”

And yet it was Bogut’s defense that sealed the game, practically handing the Warriors their 10th consecutive victory while extending their home win streak to 42. Only the fabled Chicago Bulls of 20 years ago own a longer such streak, having won 44 in a row.

Contact Us