HALFTIME RECAP WITH HIGHLIGHTS: WCF Game 4 – Durant, Curry Take Turns At San Antonio Spurs, Give Warriors 65-51 Cushion

AT&T CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, TX — Two nights after taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the 2017 Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors (3-0) were back to face the San Antonio Spurs (0-3) in Game 4.

The Warriors were without Zaza Pachulia (right heel contusion), with Patrick McCaw starting to counter the Spurs’ small lineup, while the Spurs were once again without Kawhi Leonard (left ankle) and Tony Parker (right quadricep tendon).

Q1: Dissection

The game got off to a physical start as the referees weren’t calling much on either end. Draymond Green scored inside, then after some empty possessions, LaMarcus Aldridge missed a jumper, Stephen Curry got the rebound, pushed the ball up court, and ended with an uncontested layup at the other end.

After more missed shots by both teams, Jonathon Simmons missed a layup and Curry went coast-to-coast again, drawing a lot of contact from Danny Green with no call. However, Steph’s contorted scoop banked home…

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…and he stayed sitting on the floor in protest of no whistle. Meanwhile, Draymond took a foul to stop the action at the other end, yelling at Curry as the Warriors were under-manned on defense.

Danny Green got a three, but Kevin Durant came back left baseline against Green and slammed the ball home with two hands while getting hit on the head from behind:

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Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich called timeout and after Durant hit the free throw, the Warriors maintained an 11-7 lead early on.

San Antonio continued to miss, going just 3-for-16, and Golden State took advantage of the misses, Curry going coast-to-coast again for an easy layup, Durant pulling up on the dribble for three more in the face of Simmons, and McCaw swished a triple on the catch from KD to take a 19-7 lead as Popovich called another timeout.

But out of the timeout, Steph continued to dissect the Spurs defense with a lefty scoop…

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…and backup point guard Bryn Forbes hit a trey, prompting Warriors acting head coach Mike Brown to call timeout with Golden State up, 21-9.

Closing out the corner, Andre Iguodala came in and threw the ball away on a lob to JaVale McGee, missed two free throws, but then boarded a missed three by Curry to reload him again. Steph made the second attempt and the Warriors led 24-15 with 2:43 remaining.

McGee got called for a goal-tend, which was questionable…

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…then got a block of a Dejounte Murray layup from behind, although Kyle Anderson put the ball back, then the Warriors kept the ball moving, passing up a couple shots, and eventually Shaun Livingston found Draymond up top for an open triple.

JaVale added a reverse slam going past Pau Gasol on the catch, and Curry used a pick-and-roll up top, gave an up-fake, and dissected the Spurs’ defense again for a scoop, past Gasol and the helping Forbes.

Livingston added a block of a Manu Ginobili drive with the helping McGee disrupting, and the Warriors took a 31-19 lead into the second stanza, as McCaw went to the locker room to tend to a tweaked right ankle, although he came back to the bench.

JaVale provided the usual sparks:

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Meanwhile, Curry and Durant tallied 21 points:

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Q2: MVPs Trade Off

Both teams traded punches at the start of the second quarter, then Brown took a timeout after it appeared Durant took a shot in the face on an upfake made by Aldridge with David West nearby to help out. The bucket closed the Warriors’ lead to 36-29 with 8:28 to go.

But Durant took over after the timeout, hitting a fade-away on an assist by West, then using a hesi to burst past Aldridge for a layup, plus Draymond added some theatre on a foul on the perimeter by Simmons:

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With 7:58 to go, Popovich called a timeout as Golden State took a 40-29 lead.

Ian Clark later swished a three from the top on a tic-tac-toe from Durant and Iguodala, the KD drew a foul on the left side in transition from Simmons, hit from the top…

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…and Livingston added a no-look feed to West for a bucket at the rim.

Durant swatted Murray twice on one play…

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…then things got a little bit sloppy as Curry committed two turnovers in a span of two minutes, but after Patty Mills missed a three, Klay got the rebound, outlet to Durant, who then alley-ooped to Draymond for a two-hand am that kept the Spurs at bay, 59-44, with 2:21 remaining:

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Closing out the half, Steph hit a three on a step-back play fed by Draymond, then went right-side banker, and the Warriors took a 65-51 cushion into the second half.

Curry and Durant had 18 points each:

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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @dlmart2)