SAN FRANCISCO – Kevon Looney rushed his first attempt, not realizing he had a little time. He then typed in the game winner as the final buzzer of the second overtime sounded. He was fanned out to celebrate.
The consistent big man, who played every game last season and every game so far this year, delivered a career-high 21 rebounds with two in the last 2 seconds, Klay Thompson scored a season-best 54 points, and the Golden State Warriors held out the Atlanta Hawks 143-141 on Monday night.
Looney laughed when asked if he ever made the game-winning basket — “not a walkoff game-winner.”
“I rushed the first one, I didn’t think I had that much time, but I saw I had more time, so I made my time on the second one and I was able to do it,” Looney said.
Trae Young equalized with a floating layup 8.2 seconds before the Warriors’ final chance. Young made four crucial free throws late in the first OT and finished with 30 points and 14 assists.
Looney also had 14 points and five assists. Draymond Green made his only 3-point attempt of the game with 43.8 seconds left in the final OT and finished with 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
Thompson shot 21 for 39 and his 10 3-pointers hit a season-high — and his 54 was six off his career-best scoring outing of 60, scored in three quarters on Dec. 5, 2016.
“He just kept shooting shot after shot and game after game, he was incredible,” said coach Steve Kerr.
Thompson scored with 18 seconds left in the first overtime after his tie-3 with 1:55 left in the first overtime.
Thompson has recently started ignoring social media, slowing things down to be more patient, and has found his 2019 form before left knee and right Achilles surgeries that sidelined him for more than 2 1/2 years.
He is approaching the first anniversary of his return to court on January 9th.
“It’s better than good, amazing,” he said. “Those moments where you have the ball on the line with the game and your teammates trust you, that’s what you really live for as a competitor, as a basketball player. It was difficult at times to see these during the rehab process.”
Donte DiVincenzo hit a crucial offensive rebound and then knocked down a 3-point tie with 0.6 seconds left in regulation to send the game OT after Thompson and Jordan Poole each missed the same sequence from afar had.
The short-handed defending champions are on their best five-game winning streak of the season with a sixth straight home win.
Reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry danced for joy at the result after missing his ninth straight game with a partially dislocated left shoulder.
Poole’s 3 gave Golden State a 129-126 lead with 1:35 in the first OT. He finished the tournament with 28 points, six rebounds and five assists after a 40-point performance in a 118-112 win over Portland on Friday night.
John Collins scored 21 of his 25 points after the half and gave out 13 assists as the Hawks roared back after going 21 down in the first half. Dejounte Murray also had 25 goals with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
All five Atlanta starters had double-digit goals and six players total, including Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 21 from the bench.
De’Andre Hunter returned with a sprained left ankle after three games and scored 17 points for the Hawks, who lost their fourth straight. Atlanta rallied in the third to tie the game at 95 points and move into fourth.
Golden State is 17-2 at the Chase Center and 5-0 at its current eight-game home tally, which aligns with the longest in franchise history.
INJURED WARRIORS
Jonathan Kuminga came on the injury report with a sprained right foot that had become swollen after Friday’s game. He uses a hiking shoe.
Center James Wiseman sat out a second straight game after twisting his left ankle during a 3-on-3 scrimmage following Friday’s morning shootaround.
All-Star Andrew Wiggins missed his 14th game and once again had to deal with an illness that followed being sidelined by a strain in his right thigh.
JaMychal Green is outside of the league’s health and safety protocols but is now battling an infection in his lower right leg.
TIP INS
Hawks: Atlanta shot 2 of 16 from deep in the first half to fall behind 70-53. … C Clint Capela sat out for the seventh time in eight games with a bruised right calf. … The Hawks are 3-0 down against the Western Conference.
Warrior: Veteran Andre Iguodala, who has yet to play a game this season, struggled with the G-League roster at the Chase Center earlier in the day.
NEXT
Hawks: Wednesday night in Sacramento.
Warriors: host Detroit on Wednesday night.
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