The San Antonio Spurs did exactly what many expected of a veteran team on Friday night on the road and did this by playing at their own pace and taking care of business in game three against the Golden State Warriors.
It started by getting Tony Parker involved offensively early and though the Warriors kept him outside of the paint he found his mid-range jumper that eluded him in game two. Even with the strong defense of Andrew Bogut, Tim Duncan was the perfect complement scoring the basketball. By halftime the two combined for 35 points.
Stephen Curry scored seven points in the first quarter on 2-4 shooting and David Lee made an impact in the quarter in limited minutes by scoring five points and grabbing two rebounds in three minutes of action. Klay Thompson who scored 29 points in the first half in the previous game, only scored three tonight.
This led to a deficit of nine points at the half.
In the third the Warriors made a better effort on defending Parker and the shots he made before he started missing. The lead got trimmed to one before the Spurs answered and had a bit of breathing room. What helped was the fourth foul called on Bogut one that got blown as he blocked the Duncan shot cleanly.
By the end of the third quarter it was a 10 point lead. Bogut came back into the game and made an impact, Draymond Green got fouled on a dunk attempt making both free throws, Thompson buried a three and Green made an impressive bank shot while getting fouled by Duncan, yet did not complete the three-point play opportunity.
Both teams got stagnant for a few minutes where both teams missed shots or turned the ball over, yet San Antonio pushed through it and just like that Golden State trailed by 10. Again the Warriors came back with a three by Thompson and a jumper by Harrison Barnes cut it to five. Manu Ginobili answered right back after losing the defense, yet Carl Landry answered with a jumper of his own.
Then the issue that plagued Thompson the entire season reappeared as he missed the chance to answer a basket made by Duncan and instead of drawing a foul shied away from contact and missed a difficult layup attempt, which sealed the victory for the Spurs.
Leading the way for San Antonio, Parker who scored 32 points, five assists and five rebounds, Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Kawhi Leonard added 15 points and nine rebounds. Thompson led the way for the Warriors with 17 poinst and eight rebounds, Curry added 16 points and eight assists and Landry added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Curry provided a scare in the fourth quarter as he twisted his left ankle while attempting to get away from the defense of Danny Green. He eventually fouled Leonard and did stay in the game even though he was noticeably limping.
Reports indicate good news in regards to the ankle as he’s no longer limping.