Warriors slam the door and eliminate Ginobili and the Spurs: 3 takeaways
By Ian Levy
We saw it coming a mile away and the train has finally arrived. The Warriors finished off the Spurs in Game 5, ending their first round series.
The Warriors had the Spurs number — finishing the first four games of the series with three wins and a +36 scoring margin. Even without Stephen Curry, the Warriors are too deep and too talented for an incomplete San Antonio squad. This wasn’t the Spurs-Warriors matchup we wanted and it’s certainly not the one we deserved but, with Kawhi Leonard still MIA, it’s the one we got.
Golden State was in control for a good portion of the game. The took an 11-point lead into halftime and built it to 14 heading into the fourth quarter. A pair of gorgeous Manu Ginobili assists down the stretch helped the Spurs close the gap to four-points, but Kevin Durant drove for a dunk, hit a huge jumper and knocked down free throws to help slam the door. And just like, it was over for the Spurs.
Takeaways
No one knows what’s next for the Spurs. This loss felt like the end of something, or at least the final moments of something that had been withering for awhile. The Spurs lost their streak of 50-win seasons. Forget the mysterious circumstances of the fractured relationship, Kawhi Leonard seems almost certain to be on another team next season. Tony Parker is a free agent. Danny Green and Rudy Gay have player options. Kyle Anderson, Bryn Forbes and Davis Bertans are all restricted free agents. One has to wonder if Gregg Popovich will be coming back at all. The Spurs are still loaded with some large contracts but they could rapidly shift into rebuilding mode looking to shed them and, for the first time in a long time, the Spurs could be on the bottom looking up. Or they could bring everyone back, reconcile with Kawhi and start a new 50-win streak. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No one knows what’s next for the Warriors. As advantageous a matchup as the Spurs were for Golden State, the Pelicans are just as potentially complicated. The Warriors will obviously still be the favorites and they built some nice momentum in the first round. However, Stephen Curry’s status for the second-round is in question, Jrue Holiday is suddenly a future Hall-of-Famer and Anthony Davis is still an enormously problematic matchup. And looming behind all of that is the Houston Rockets and/or the Utah Jazz (don’t laugh!). The Warriors are moving in the right direction, but things aren’t any more certain than they were a few weeks ago.
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Kevin Durant is good. He is not, however, Stephen Curry. Durant averaged 29.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in this series. He was undoubtedly the best player on the floor and his was fantastic at both ends of the floor. However, this Warriors team is just not the same with him steering the offense instead of Curry. 33.8 percent of Golden State’s shots in this series were 3-pointers, which would have ranked about league average during the regular season. They are still an elite offense but they aren’t explosive in quite the same way they have been in the past. Durant may make them better. He definitely makes them different.