ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The All-Star break was over for the Golden State Warriors welcomed to #Roaracle the San Antonio Spurs, who had started the second half of their season last night with a loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles.
San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich, who has been known to rest his veteran stars on the second night of back-to-backs, said before the game that, despite the back-to-back, his entire roster would be available to play tonight. The Spurs had won 53 of the previous 61 meetings between the two.
1ST QUARTER: Quick Start By Warriors Tempered By Spurs Patience
The Warriors got out to a quick start as Andrew Bogut got two early blocked shots, both on Spurs center Aron Baynes. Draymond Green cashed in on the first swat with an in-rhythm three-pointer, then Klay Thompson drilled a trey from the right elbow after Stephen Curry brought up the ball and fed Thompson with a left-handed behind-the-back flick to Klay.
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Harrison Barnes added a fastbreak layup with the big steps to give the Dubs an 8-0 lead with 10:38 to play, but Golden State got sloppy, as Curry got an entry pass deflected by a switched and face-guarding Tim Duncan and Tony Parker picked Thompson’s pocket as Klay thought he could drive into the paint around the smaller Parker.
Even though Bogut disrupted another shot, this time by Tim Duncan, Baynes made two straight buckets and, after a Kawhi Leonard pull-up jumper from the left side, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 7:28 remaining in the first frame, up 10-8.
After the timeout, Baynes found himself posting up on a switch against the smaller Barnes, but the shot trickled out and, after Duncan failed a tip-in, Curry snuck in for the rebound and found Klay with a run-out dunk with Danny Green in close pursuit. Later, David Lee would be the first Warrior off the bench for Kerr, replacing Green.
But Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Leonard put together a mini-5-0 run, with the Spurs extra passes on full display. However, Popovich called timeout after Andre Iguodala drew a rare charge on Leonard, who stuck out his left forearm a little too much on a right-handed attack.
Iguodala great one-on-one defense fueled his next shot, as Leandro Barbosa darted into the paint, rose up, almost made a 360, and dished it out to Andre who nailed a three-point jumper.
Lee stole a bad pass on Marco Belinelli‘s entry to the high post to Tiago Splitter, but Boris Diaw took over for the Spurs from there, getting a turnaround hook shot to fall, a triple from up top with the shotclock winding down and Patty Mills nearly dribbling out the clock, and a runner in the paint going left-to-right.
Curry lit some fireworks with a crossover on Mills and a pull-up from downtown, but prior to that play, Mills had tired Curry out with Steph not able to juke his way by Mills on multiple occasions, then finally getting an assist to Lee on Lee’s baseline jumper.
The fatigued Curry got back-doored by Mills on the next play and Steph missed his next spark attempt, a three-pointer from the left side in front of Mills.
The first quarter ended with the Spurs up, 29-27, after Marreese Speights got a jump hook from the right baseline to fall and Ginobili answered that with a lefty layup. Barbosa took too long to get off a layup that went through well after the buzzer.
2ND QUARTER: Chef Curry Stirs The Pot
The second frame started out quietly as both teams’ second units played to a stalemate. Green got things started with a steal on an entry pass that Barbosa capped with a trey, then drew a charge on Baynes, but Shaun Livingston turned the ball over twice.
With 6:17 to play in the half, Kerr called another timeout after Green blocked a Belinelli layup attempt, but Iguodala turned the ball over on the ensuing fastbreak, trying to leave a drop pass that died and was stolen by the Spurs, leading to a Belinelli three-pointer from the left corner as Parker brought up the ball 3-on-1 against Bogut, who was stuck retreating under the hoop and boxing out Baynes. The Warriors found themselves down, but just 38-40.
With 5:08 to play, Curry was called for a touch foul on Parker. Steph complained and immediately got called for a technical. Kerr added kerosene to the fire with his own tech, as Oracle erupted in “Ref-You-Suck” chants. Parker’s visit to the charity stripe gave the Spurs a 44-41 lead, but Bogut disrupted another layup, and Green outletted Duncan’s miss to Thompson, who took big, strong steps to finish the fastbreak with San Antonio in hot pursuit.
Bogut added a smashing alley-oop, Curry’s 6th assist of the night, but once again, Diaw stopped the bleeding with a fade-away against Green in the high post.
The Warriors ended the half with the momentum, as Barnes got the ball in the left corner on a swing pass, made a jab step on Duncan, flew by him on the baseline, and converted a reverse layup in traffic. Curry then crossed Parker over and drained a trey, exulted, and Popovich called timeout with Oracle getting louder and Golden State up, 50-48, with 3:11 remaining.
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It was the defense that powered the Warriors’ run, as Green got another steal on an entry pass to Duncan, leading to Curry’s 7th assist as Thompson finished yet another fastbreak with a gliding finger roll.
Leonard seemed to stop the momentum with a three-pointer after several passes, and Duncan scored easily after Parker drove. This was after Barnes missed a wide-open three from the right corner as Curry sliced through the Spurs perimeter into the paint.
But Barnes atoned moments after Duncan’s basket on almost the exact same sequence of events, as Steph drove into the lane again with the left hand. This time the 3-ball right-corner-pocket splashed through and the Warriors suddenly led, 55-53.
The Warriors wasted no time getting the ball into the frontcourt, as Leonard mishandled a drive and was left complaining to the ref as Green inbounded to Curry, who found Thompson streaking up the court on the left side, with Duncan helplessly left to defend the entire left side of the court. Kawhi hurried back only to foul Klay on the layup, as Thompson wisely passed up an enticing three-pointer a yard in front of Duncan.
Curry ended the half brilliantly, as a cross-court pass by Diaw trying to reach Parker in the right corner was deflected and intercepted by Steph reaching high with his arm. Curry dribbled up the court and found the lane waiting for him to drive and swallow him up, but he fooled the Spurs with a whirl of the ball around his waist, to the cup for a beautiful left-handed layup that brought the house down.
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Parker ended the quarter fouling Curry on a quick crossover, sending Steph to the line for the bonus two free throws, capping a 10-0 run, and Belinelli added a jumper before the buzzer in front of a retreating Green, to make it Warriors 62, Spurs 55, at the half.
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