The Spurs are without their star forward Kawhi Leonard, and Twitter is not happy with how this series is about to play out against the Warriors.
The San Antonio Spurs lost forward Kawhi Leonard to an ankle injury in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals after going up big on the Golden State Warriors and have fallen apart ever since.
They blew a huge lead to open the series, and couldn’t get anything going in the first half of Game 2 in Leonard’s absence, going into the half down 72-44. In that same time frame, plenty of Spurs and NBA fans have complained all over social media about whether or not Golden State’s Zaza Pachulia purposely injured Leonard as he came down from a jump shot.
Twitter has been salty the last few days about Pachulia’s move that forced Leonard’s injury, but they were even more upset with how the first half of Game 2 went. Here are some of the best reactions to the first 24 minutes of action between the Warriors and Spurs:
Warriors lead 72-44 at the half.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 17, 2017
Since Kawhi Leonard left in the 3rd quarter of Game 1, Golden State has outscored the Spurs by 53 points. pic.twitter.com/brJPJ3gbXw
Well…what did you expect? pic.twitter.com/8i8jxic0dH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 17, 2017
Spurs got em right where they want em. Just gotta have David Lee slide under Steph Curry.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 17, 2017
And KD.
And Klay.
And Draymond.
Once again we see why Kawhi Leonard is the best two-way player in the NBA. Spurs would've won this series with him. Without him: Ugly.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 17, 2017
The Spurs had one slim hope tonight: LaMarcus. Now they have no hope.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 17, 2017
Welllllp
— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) May 17, 2017
Meanwhile, looks like the Warriors' pre-Finals shootaround is going well.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 17, 2017
Spurs fans acting like they didn't use to smash Dubs w/ Big 3 resting. Just destroyed Hou w/o Kawhi. Now? "Of course we were going to lose"
— Marcus Thompson II (@ThompsonScribe) May 17, 2017
About to watch Spurs vs GS in Spanish. maybe that will make this interesting
— Sharp 🥃 (@Sharpp) May 17, 2017
The Spurs have not been able to adjust to life without Leonard. The Warriors bench made 11 of its first 12 shots while the Spurs as a team made 13 out of 38 in the same exact time frame. If that is any indication as to how the rest of the series will play out if Leonard remains out with his injury, basketball fans are not exactly in for a treat.
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The Spurs are going to have to figure something out, and fast, if they have any chance of coming back in this series. If things continue at the current pace, they’ll be headed back to San Antonio down two games to the top-seeded Warriors, and the situation won’t exactly get better as they head home.
Here’s hoping Leonard gets well soon, for all of our eyes’ sake watching this series at home.