San Francisco – The Warriors did not need it, but it would have made their lives much easier.
Golden State started quickly and its stars played their best basketball after half-time, but still have not been able to store what seemed to be the easiest game to play.
Despite the first 11 points of the match, the first six of the second half and obtaining 58 combined points from Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors fell on Wednesday evening at the San Antonio Spurs, 114-111, making more pressure on their last two competitions.
Without any help, the Warriors will have to win their last two games against the Blazers and the Clippers of Trail to win the seeded n ° 6 and avoid the dreaded game tournament. They go to Portland on Friday and welcome Los Angeles to their regular season final on Sunday.
“It goes over the course for a reason,” said coach Steve Kerr. “There are many big teams in the West, and there are very few easy matches. There are just very few matches that are being set up, and because of the 3 -point line in the modern NBA, you are still vulnerable. This is what brought us tonight.”
The Warriors led by 14 points in the second half, including an advantage of 88-76 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but were tied at 111 with 3.1 seconds on the chronometer when the ball found the hands of Harrison Barnes, which put a prayer from a 3-point territory which dropped through the net while the buzzer sounds.
Golden State had possession in a matching match with 32.6 seconds to do, but Barnes came back big, intercepting the incoming pass of Curry and installing a lay-up of Keldon Johnson who put San Antonio at 111-109. Draymond Green sank a pair of free throws and San Antonio called time, setting up the final possession.
The Spurs outstripped the Warriors in the fourth quarter, 38-23. Barnes’ winner was their 18th pointer at 3 points out of 46 attempts (39.1%). It was the triple of Stephon Castle who equaled the match at 99 with 5:01 on the left who changed the tide, according to Kerr.
“We just couldn’t contain them defensively,” said Kerr. “And when you do this, you leave the door open for blows like the one Harrison hit at the end.”
Curry finished with a summit of 30 points, Butler paid 28 points and Green filled the 13 -point statistics sheet, nine rebounds and eight assists. But it was not enough to beat the Spurs, which had lost eight of their nine previous games between Wednesday, including a rout of 148-106 last week in San Antonio.
Without Victor Wembanyama or’Aaron Fox, the Spurs were led by three players who scored more than 20 points. Johnson and Castle each contributed 21 points, and Barnes added 20 – on 6 out of 9 shots from a 3 -point territory – to go with two figures of four other scorers.
Golden State took a quick start from the opening point, and it seemed that the Warriors could be in a victory that recalls their routing. The Warriors forced the Spurs to miss their first six attempts on the ground and took an advance of 11-0. They had an advantage of 32-23 at the end of the first period.
The match was the sixth of the Warriors in four cities in the last eight days, and they fell to 8-6 in the second half of a consecutive back. Their 133-95 victory the previous night in Phoenix meant that no curry, Butler or Green had to record more than 25 minutes.
They did not have the same luxury against the Spurs, which rose from their beginning of cold to take an advance of 55-51 in the locker room. San Antonio did not leave after half-time, delayed by up to 14 points but shooting throughout the rear to make a fresh ball game with 5 minutes to do.
“This is what the playoffs feel,” said Kerr. “Lots of pressure. Lots of things on the line. Difficult losses. The only thing you can do is take your chin on the ground and come back to it the next day.”
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
