Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns 04/02/2015

With their magic number to clinch the best overall record in the NBA trimmed to three, the Golden State Warriors entered Oracle Arena on Thursday night with very little motivation.
Simply, a victory in this evening's contest would only be relevant to maniacal statisticians (such as myself), or perhaps to bitter Phoenix fans who have remained disgusted by the recurring mediocre play of their team since 1968.
Golden State's lack of urgency, however, was quite evident, as they flirted with the possibility of losing at home for only the third time this season.
As the night unfolded, Steve Kerr's game plan seemed to focus primarily on managing the minutes of his star athletes, rather than winning, as players such as James Michael McAdoo (22 minutes) received unusually significant playing time.
Lacking continuity, the Warriors frolicked throughout the majority of the game, always believing that their last-minute heroics would be more than enough to power them to their 62nd win of the 2014-2015 campaign.
Nevertheless, as the game steadily progressed, Golden State's quality of play steadily regressed.
And thus, Oracle Arena waited.. and waited.. for something to cheer for.
Until finally, with 6.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, it seemed as if Golden State's highly anticipated heroics had arrived.
After a crazed frenzy around the basket, Stephen Curry drained a wide-open three-point attempt to give the Warriors a slight advantage.
The ensuing celebration, however, was certainly premature, as on the following possession, Eric Bledsoe beat Klay Thompson to the rim for a go-ahead reverse layup.
Thus, with 4.5 seconds left to play in regulation, Golden State was left with one final opportunity to convert the game-winner.
And once again, the exuberant Warriors were poised to emerge with the victory.
As hearts palpitated across Northern California, Steve Kerr used his final 20-second timeout, drawing up one final play which would lead Golden State to victory.
And with less than a second remaining on the game clock, Harrison Barnes glided to the hoop, rattling in a buzzer-beating layup to send Golden State off with a wild 107-106 win.
The giddy Warriors will travel to Dallas on Saturday night, beginning their final road trip of the regular season against a dangerous Mavericks squad.

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