The secrets behind the Warriors’ incredible third quarters | Opinion

Steve Kerr was incredulous.

Happy, but incredulous.

His team, down by 11 points at halftime, had just rallied to beat the Houston Rockets by 29, staving off elimination in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

The turning point?

Another massive third quarter. This time, the Warriors outscored the opposition by 17 points in the third.

The Warriors have made a habit of starting games poorly (by their standards) and then using big third quarters to flip the contest into their favor. The Game 6 script was one that had been performed countless times this season. In fact, two nights later ­­­in the third quarter of Game 7, they outscored the Rockets by 18 points.

Against Houston — just like so many teams before them — the Warriors’ defense became engaged after halftime, forcing turnovers and missed shots which bring about the most dangerous duo in sports: the Warriors’ offense and fast breaks.

Bang. Bang. Tied game.

Momentum rolling, the Oracle Arena roaring, pressure on the opponent building.

Another stop. Another fast-break basket.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“The biggest thing is they really (amp) their defense up,” Cleveland coach Ty Lue said. “They get stops, they get out in transition. They get threes and easy baskets.”

“It’s not like a secret,” said Houston coach Mike D’Antoni. “They get it going, and it’s hard to turn them off. ”

It all happens so fast, it’s hard to process what exactly transpired. It’s a wildly spectacular and yet deeply peculiar performance.

It’s downright shameless, too.

Before the crowd has made its way back to the seats for the third quarter, the Warriors are on their way into the lead, no matter what the halftime score was. There was a game in Philadelphia this season when the Warriors were down 22 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, they were up 99-89.

Bang.

“I have no clue why our team is like this,” Kerr said after Game 6 in Houston. “But this is kind of what we do.”

And it isn’t just opposing teams who better be ready.

“You can’t ease into a third quarter with this team,” said Warriors broadcaster Tim Roye, who has called NBA games for almost 30 years. “With this team, you have to be on your toes all the time, but this year it’s been unbelievable in the third quarter. I’ve never seen anything like that, ever.”

Here’s the jaw-dropping, raw data: the Warriors have played 100 games this season and have outscored their opponents in the third quarter by a whopping 507 — three times the margin of the second-best third quarter team, the Boston Celtics (plus-154 in 101 games).

The massive thirds stand in stark contrast to the Warriors’ first quarter (-4 points, total, this season) and second quarter (a solid +131) and fourth quarter (dead even).

So what is it about the third quarter?

Like most things with the Warriors, let’s start with Stephen Curry.

Curry was the NBA’s best third-quarter player this season. In the regular season, he averaged 10 points in third quarters, nearly two points more than any other player in the league, while shooting a gaudy 54 percent from the field and 51 percent from beyond the arc. In the postseason, he’s averaging nine points per third quarter and his percentages have gone up — 58 percent from the field and 57 percent from beyond the arc.

The third quarter is the favorite venue for a trademark Curry flurry — the avalanche of points more often than not proving too much (or too demoralizing) for an opponent.

But even Curry can’t fully explain it, for himself or for the team.

“I honestly have no idea what it is about our third quarters besides just sticking with the process, understanding that basketball’s made of 48 minutes, and at any point, it could break open for us,” Curry said.

There’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy to the third quarter as well. The Warriors have become comfortable — too comfortable, if you ask Warriors’ coaches — with early deficits. That’s why when the Warriors faced 17 and 15-point first-half deficits in Games 6 and 7 against Houston, they didn’t panic. Their fans, yes. The players, not so much, if at all.

“You don’t want to dig yourselves holes in the first half, first quarter… but we’ve stuck with it and we haven’t got defeated,” Curry said.

Klay Thompson says “the embarrassment of our performance” in the first two quarters might spur the team to such heights at the start of the second half. “Luckily for us, it’s a 48-minute game,” he said, “so you can never count us out even when we’re down big.”

That makes some sense — NBA games are a lot longer than they can seem. There are frequently 200-plus possessions in a contest.

But why the third quarter, and not the second or the fourth? The Warriors typically use their starting lineup to start the third quarter, so why isn’t the first quarter the big frame?

Maybe it’s something that’s done at halftime.

“Just incredible halftime adjustments. The coaching staff has done amazing,” Kerr deadpanned.

Beyond the joke, though, there is some truth.

The Warriors assistant coaches — in addition to all of their other in-game responsibilities — are responsible for directing a highlight (or lowlight) package to show the team during the halftime break. As the first half unfolds, coaches will declare that a play or sequence needs to be included in the halftime film. That message is relayed to video coordinator James Laughlin, who has everything in place by the time the team reaches the locker room.

“At halftime, we know what they (the opponent) want to do the whole game,” Warriors rookie Jordan Bell told me. “We know what we’re not doing well. So halftime we watch film, try to go out and execute. With the talent we have, it’s kind of hard not to have a good third-quarter run like that.”

The Warriors, without doubt, have a preponderance of talent: In addition to Curry, the Warriors boast Kevin Durant, who is averaging 9.4 points per third quarter this postseason on 53 percent shooting, not to mention Thompson, who made four 3-pointers in the third quarter of Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, and Draymond Green, an elite, versatile defender who can force a turnover at one end and has the ballhandling skills and gumption to immediately initiate a fast-break.

“I also think teams tend to play really, really hard against us from the beginning,” Kerr said. “We’ve been ‘The Hunted’ for the last few years. I think teams are excited to play us and they come out on fire defensively and it takes a lot out of them. In the third quarter, teams tend to tire a little bit, and maybe that’s why we make a push.”

Put it all together, and you get a sense why the third quarter belongs to the Warriors.

The Warriors — Champions of the World — are like boxers. As the champs, they get their opponent’s best shot out of the gate, but instead of punching right back, they feel their opponent out, waiting for them to tire so they can throw their devastating knockout counter-punch.

“It’s the Rope-A-Dope,” Warriors wing and basketball bohemian Nick Young said, harkening to the strategy Muhammad Ali used against George Foreman in 1974’s Rumble in the Jungle.

“Yeah, I like that. Go with that.”