San Antonio wins to stay alive against Warriors: 3 takeaways

The Spurs rallied together to pull off a win in front of their hometown fans to take the series back to California.

Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Danny Green weren’t quite ready to get their summer break started just yet, banding together to defeat Golden State 103-90 on Sunday afternoon in Texas.

Kevin Durant had 34 points for Golden State, but the rest of the team struggled to put the ball through the rim efficiently and the Warriors will have to win a game back home to close out the series.

The Spurs had a strong defensive effort in the first quarter, forcing seven turnovers to help them take a 30-22 lead after the first twelve. While the turnovers gave the Spurs extra possessions, the Warriors were able to get extra possessions by attacking the offensive glass, grabbing seven in the quarter. Neither teams were particularly efficient, but the Spurs were able to find open shooters to help them to their highest scoring quarter in the series.

The Spurs kept on firing through the second quarter, turning defensive stops into open jumpers. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili carried the reserves to start the quarter, and Dejounte Murray and LaMarcus Aldridge carried the offense to close out the quarter. Aldridge continued to be a difficult player to check for the Warriors, using his length to get shots off against Draymond Green and JaVale McGee. The Warriors were able to get baskets following missed shots with Green pushing the ball down the court, but they were missing too many shots against a desperate defense to mount a rally before halftime.

The Warriors put the ball in Kevin Durant’s hands to start the third quarter, letting the former MVP create opportunities for himself and his teammates. The Warriors battled throughout the quarter, bringing the score within seven points by the end after a Durant jumper. Golden State didn’t have much outside of Durant, with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green struggling to convert shot attempts into points.

The Spurs came out like wild horses to start the fourth quarter, getting a couple buckets from Rudy Gay, but Draymond Green and Shaun Livingston combined for a few counterpunches to keep the Warriors close. Durant continued to attack, and a jumper from behind the arc cut the Spurs lead to two points with 6:35 remaining. San Antonio was able to counter with free throws from Manu Ginobili, and then LaMarcus Aldridge banked in a long 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to bump the lead up to seven with 4:21 left in the game.

The Spurs forced the Warriors into tough shots, with a shot clock violation on one possession, and Aldridge put in a jumper following the turnover to give the Spurs a margin the Warriors wouldn’t close in the final minutes. Ginobili followed another missed 3-pointer, the Warriors twentieth miss in the game, with an acrobatic layup to give San Antonio 100 points, and that was curtains for Golden State.

Takeaways

The Spurs weren’t going to get swept. They definitely came into the game with their backs against the wall. Gregg Popovich was home with his family following the death of his wife, and they hadn’t played the defending champs close in the first three games. No matter – their season wasn’t ending in front of their fans.

Aldridge, Gay, Ginobili and Parker all stepped up with timely baskets, helping propel the Spurs attack forward against the stout Warriors defense. They took care of the basketball, patiently moved the ball around until they found an open shot, and closed out on shooters.

The Warriors were unstoppable on the boards. There aren’t going to be many games where a team has as many rebounds as the Warriors and lose. According to Basketball Reference, the last occurrence in a game that didn’t go to overtime where a team had that many boards and lost was December 26, 2014, when the Lakers lost to the Mavericks, 102-82.

Draymond Green was especially active, taking advantage of the Spurs frontline to grab eight offensive rebounds and 10 defensive boards. When he’d grab a defensive rebound, he’d push the ball down the court to get transition buckets, and that reflected in his team-high nine assists. On offense, he was grabbing boards and repeatedly kicking the ball out to teammates on the perimeter, but Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant were the only other teammates outside of Green that made a 3-pointer in the game.

Next: Rankings the best NBA nicknames of all time

The Spurs supporting cast was better than the Warriors supporting cast. San Antonio knows they can count on Aldridge for production – the big man had 22 points and 10 rebounds in 38 minutes – but they had production all across their bench today, with four other players in double digits scoring in the game. For the Warriors, the only other players outside of Durant to have double-digit points were Klay Thompson (12 points) and Shaun Livingston (10 points).

The Warriors have been fortunate that they were able to match up against the Spurs in the first round, because it’s nights like tonight where fans can see how important Steph Curry is for the Warriors. Without their franchise guard, they don’t have enough offensive firepower to bring it every night. It’s one of the reasons they struggled down the stretch of the regular season as well.

Ultimately, the win by San Antonio tonight may just prolong the series for one more game before San Antonio succumbs to the talent level of the Golden State Warriors. But for one night, the Spurs were able to rally and pull off a win against a team that had a bit of an off night.