OAKLAND, Calif. _ Five minutes remained, the Atlanta Hawks were within four of the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant walked to the scorer's table and, finally, we had the late-game setup these five likely dreamed up in the Hamptons this past July 4.
Here they were: the Durant-injected Death Lineup _ featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala _ handed a slim lead and told to close. In shaky fashion, they passed the test, squeaking by the Hawks 105-100 on Monday night.
Together, the quintet started in highlight fashion. A swift cut from Durant was rewarded by a slick Iguodala interior pass. Durant bolted by a stronger but slower Paul Millsap for the easy score. Then Dwight Howard, swarmed by quicker bodies, threw a pass away on the ensuing possession. It led to Durant free throws and an immediate 4-0 run, springing the lead to eight.
This was what this lineup was formed to do: Exploit mismatches, use quickness, length and speed to overwhelm in the game's biggest moments. But it has a potential weakness: Size. So Atlanta stayed big and stayed in the game, using that advantage.
Millsap bullied through for a big and-1 putback. Then Howard followed on the next possession with the same. Howard had another offensive board a minute later, leading to free throws. He made one. Six big second chance points.
The lead, just eight, was back to four: 104-100 with 69 seconds left. The Durant-infused Death Star, to that point, had only played Atlanta to a draw. Drama remained.
On the next possession, Golden State went to its potential mismatch, running a Green and Curry pick-and-roll. Howard was forced to guard Green in this setting. So he was forced to defend Curry. Howard's decision: Lay back, allow Curry to shoot a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open wing 3.
If he hit it, it would've sealed the game. But Curry struggled all night, finishing 6-of-17 from the field. One of those 11 misses came on that open 3 with 56 seconds left, rebounded by the Hawks. Atlanta remained in the game.
So with the game on the line, Golden State's undersized yet ferocious small-ball center, again, took over on the defensive end. The Warriors have only had three truly late toss-up games this season: at Phoenix, at Milwaukee and against the Hawks on Monday night.
Green closed the Suns win with swarming defense in the final five minutes and a huge block in the closing seconds. He finished off the Bucks with a smart steal on an inbound play he said he knew was coming.
Then on Monday night, he killed the Hawks with a flying block of a Dennis Schroder layup with 43 seconds left, hitting off Atlanta and going out of bounds. Curry, again, couldn't seal the win when a desperation 3 missed on the next possession. So one more stand was warranted.
Green delivered it again, blocking Kent Bazemore out of bounds to seal the win, creating the next highlight clip for his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy, which he has loudly campaigned for in the past few weeks.
The Death Star lineup wasn't dominant on Monday night. Neither were the Warriors. But thanks to Green's defensive heroics and enough offense, the win streak now sits at 12 games.
