ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after dropping their second home loss in three games, the Golden State Warriors (69-9) were back at #Roaracle to face the San Antonio Spurs (65-12).
The Warriors were still without Kevon Looney (hip). The Spurs were without Boris Diaw (soreness, right adductor). Boban Marjanovic was listed as “inactive”.
1st Quarter – Heavyweight Slugfest, Draymond With The Wrong Kind Of Spark
Tony Parker missed a runner after Tim Duncan won the opening tip over Andrew Bogut, but Draymond Green got the outlet from Bogut and promptly turned the ball over trying to move the ball ahead to Harrison Barnes, stolen by Danny Green.
But the Warriors worked the ball around on the next possession and Stephen Curry got by LaMarcus Aldridge easily on the right side on a switch, and Curry fed Klay Thompson on the left arc:
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Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich didn’t like what he saw and took a twenty-second timeout to yell at Danny Green.
Out of the timeout, Aldridge hit a jumper that was matched by a Harrison Barnes early-offense jumper. However, Aldridge came back with an upfake on Draymond and drew contact. That was Green’s first personal.
But after a few empty possessions that Kawhi Leonard finally ended with a running banker down the right side, Barnes missed and Draymond got tagged for going over the back on Parker, Green’s second personal.
Green lost his cool, flailed his arm and the opposite-side referee whistled him for a technical as the official who made the initial foul call reported the foul. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr inserted Andre Iguodala, Green walked over to the ref who called the technical to have a lively discussion, and the Warriors were hit with a delay-of-game warning for Draymond’s extra-curriculars.
After Iguodala stole the ball from Leonard and Curry fed Barnes for a breakaway lefty dunk, Bogut found Klay on a cut for a finger roll, but the Spurs started to use Aldridge’s size advantage over Barnes in the post, and Aldridge made a jump hook over him, then spun past Barnes, missed the layup, but Bogut helped and that allowed Tim Duncan to get a putback on the opposite side.
Barnes threw up an airball from the left block, but Bogut slapped the ball out of Aldridge’s hands, Thompson streaked down the court and missed a dunk, but the ball caromed back to him by the right baseline and he buried the jumper before meaningful defense could get back.
That gave the Warriors a 13-10 lead with 4:25 remaining.
Danny Green swished a three from the right arc, assisted by Leonard, but Curry dissected the left side and got a layup:
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On the next sequence, Aldridge had his way against Barnes on the left block once more, but he went reverse layup even though he could have beaten Barnes the regular way, Bogut was there to swat the shot, and Aldridge was showing pain with the hand.
He fouled Barnes on purpose on the next sequence and subbed out with what turned out to be a dislocated pinky…
Heres an angle @JMcDonald_SAEN pic.twitter.com/VTa0jFy9Rl
— jet del alcazar (@findingjet) April 8, 2016
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…Kerr called a timeout with 3:11 to play and Golden State up, 15-13.
Kerr put Draymond back in, along with Leandro Barbosa and Festus Ezeli, and Barbosa got a swish from the left arc after David West found Duncan underneath.
Iguodala slapped the ball out of Duncan’s hands, Barbosa and Danny Green traded misses, and Steph came back with a hanging layup past a switched Duncan and a helping West:
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Patty Mills, who had come in for Parker, airballed a triple from the top as Green and Iguodala converged nicely, and Curry took the inbound with 0.5 seconds remaining from the baseline and, from three-quarters court, front-rimmed the heave at the buzzer.
The Warriors took a 20-15 lead into the second period. Both teams shot below 40% in the opening frame.
2nd Quarter – Dubs Run
Brandon Rush sparked a 13-0 run by the Warriors to start the second stanza with a three to get things going, then Shaun Livingston passed off to Ezeli, who found Green up top, who found Livingston back down low for a two-hand jam to put Golden State up, 25-15:
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Mills missed a trey from the right side, then Klay hit this jumper on a catch from a side out-of-bounds:
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Marreese Speights blocked a Manu Ginobili attack on the left side, and Thompson found Draymond on a cut on the right baseline for another two-hand flush:
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Later, Draymond got one more fed by Livingston on a slip:
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Popovich decided against a timeout and let Leonard answer with a jumper, then after a catch-and-shoot jumper from Speights…
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…Leonard went inside and upfaked Rush into an “and-one”. The Warriors still held a 38-27 lead as Kerr took a timeout with 5:43 to go, to bring Curry and Bogut back in.
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Parker hit a jumper, Klay missed, then, in transition, Livingston dished to Curry for three from the left arc, Livingston’s fourth assist:
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That made it Warriors, 44-29, with 3:31 left, and Parker and Barnes traded jumpers, Parker and Thompson traded turnovers, and Danny Green hit a trailing three fed by Parker:
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Kerr took a twenty-second timeout, but it didn’t work because Steph threw the ball away on a high-risk cross-court turnover. Curry and Thompson fell asleep on defense and Green hit another triple from the right arc:
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Kerr called another timeout.
Steph missed an attack in the lane, Leonard answered with a strong move inside, but Barnes answered back with a catch-and shoot triple:
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Parker missed a jumper, then Draymond posted up Parker in the right block and Iguodala set a pick on Aldridge, who couldn’t rotate while Kawhi also couldn’t close out quick enough, and Green found Barnes for another trey with 10.2 ticks left:
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Curry got away with physical defense on Parker’s drive on the right side and the ball went out of bounds with 0.9 seconds to go. The Spurs couldn’t capitalize on the inbound play and the Warriors took a 52-40 lead into halftime.
Barnes and Kawhi led all scorers with 14 points apiece, while Klay had 11 points. Curry tallied 7 points. Both Thompson and Steph had 4 assists each, while Bogut led the Dubs with 6 boards. Danny Green chipped in 9 points on 3 treys for San Antonio.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @treads.or.trails)
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