AT&T CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, TX — Five nights after taking a two-game lead in the 2017 Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors (2-0) hit the road to face the San Antonio Spurs (0-2).
The Warriors were without Zaza Pachulia (right heel contusion), but welcomed back Andre Iguodala (left knee strain). The Spurs ruled out Kawhi Leonard (left ankle sprain) and were still without Tony Parker (right quadricep tendon). The Spurs gave Kyle Anderson the start.
Q1: Foul Trouble
The Warriors came out strong as McGee drew two free throw shots, made both, then Klay Thompson fed Draymond Green who found JaVale for a dunk.
Golden State then went tic-tac-toe again as Stephen Curry found Green again, who found McGee again for an and-one put-in, then Kevin Durant found Curry on the right side for a cross-court assist, and the Warriors jumped out to a 10-4 lead with 8:59 remaining:
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Later, Steph added a triple from up top, then Thompson posted up Patty Mills in the right block and bounced a dime to McGee at the rim again:
[protected-iframe id=”4ee28c0c8b24e779c65e2660b1cea77b-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F866102098638884864″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]JaVale scored one more time inside, then Mills threw the ball away on a lob inside, and Klay swished a left wing jumper over David Lee to take a 21-14 lead with 5:07 to go.
But Manu Ginobili stemmed the tide with a trey fed by Jonathon Simmons, Simmons and Mills drew consecutive fouls on Curry, sending him to the bench with two fouls as Warriors head coach Mike Brown brought in Iguodala and Ian Clark.
However, Durant coughed the ball up in the post, and Lee scored twice inside against Draymond, the second an and-one, for a 23-23 tie with 2:57 left.
KD hit a dribble-and-pop after a series of crossovers against Davis Bertans and a helping Pau Gasol, then Ginobili drew a foul, but on the second make, and with only 1.1 seconds remaining, David West threw a streaking Clark a touchdown pass for a scoop at the buzzer, and the Warriors kept things close, trailing 33-29 heading into the second stanza:
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Early in the second period, Curry got two steals and the Warriors cashed one of them in with a three from Klay as West drove and kicked to find him wide open.
Green went down the lane, got fouled by Anderson early in the play, and the refs gave him the continuation as Draymond dunked one-and-a-half steps later:
[protected-iframe id=”976377fa5676e95f7b97396604edbe35-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F866107996186714112″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Later, after a nice double-clutch reverse layup by Curry, Steph picked up his third personal on an attack from Danny Green, but Mills got blocked on a drive by Durant, and a few sequences later, Thompson hit another three on an assist after some crossovers by Curry:
[protected-iframe id=”f34deb5bb2077f14588e802ce712e629-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F866109678672949248″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Simmons drove and his layup went too hard, then in transition, KD found JaVale for yet another lob put-in, and Popovich called another timeout as the Warriors took the lead, 43-41, with 7:09 to play.
Out of the timeout Bertans amazingly slammed home a put-back after Mills launched a three, but McGee got another and-one inside thanks to a touch pass from Draymond.
Draymond then burst past Bertans:
[protected-iframe id=”96293de8e380c5462152cd06f9fb4302-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FWorld_Wide_Wob%2Fstatus%2F866111579137429504″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]Later, Durant hit a triple on the catch from Draymond after Curry drove left baseline, Steph then took a charge against Danny Green, and Draymond found KD on the cut, with no call on the wrist by Danny Green:
[protected-iframe id=”4753041e1f067922a3787d7d21d5f43c-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F866111658325704704″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]After a Simmons miss and an Aldridge missed put-back, Curry hit a left-side banker after an upfake, and Popovich called another timeout as the Warriors hit a stride and took a 56-49 lead with 2:54 to go.
Out of the timeout, Draymond got a bucket at the rim, Durant went down the right side for a slam past Anderson…
[protected-iframe id=”50737ead567fc029e888de5ad3e6fd22-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F866113643032625153″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]…then drew two more free throws on early offense after Mills missed, but that momentum was halted as Ginobili drew Draymond’s third personal, sending him to the bench with the Warriors up, 61-50, with 1:14 left.
Golden State let up a bit to close the half, as Durant charged into Simmons from the left block, then badly missed a double-clutch running jumper on a pick-and-roll with West, the second time the refs didn’t give the Warriors that type of call, and a Ginobili three brought the Spurs to within two possessions, 61-55, with 25.9 seconds remaining.
But West hit a rare triple from the right side on an attack by Shaun Livingston and that gave the Warriors a 64-55 lead at halftime.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @vryromero)
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