No. 2 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 7 Spurs
(Warriors lead first-round playoff series 2-0)
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92, Saturday, Oakland, Calif.
Game 2: Warriors 116, Spurs 101, Monday, Oakland
Game 3: Thursday, 8:30 p.m., AT&T Center
Game 4: Sunday, 2:30 p.m., AT&T Center
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 24, Time TBD, Oakland
*Game 6: Thursday, April 26, Time TBD, AT&T Center
*Game 7: Saturday, April 28, Time TBD, Oakland
*If necessary
The Spurs aren’t deluding themselves. They know the fix they’re in.
Being down 0-2 in any playoff series is never a good place to be, especially when the opponent is the defending champion. But the Silver and Black remain confident they’ll play better at home against the Golden State Warriors.
“Just got to keep playing,” All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge said Wednesday after practice. “We guarded them better. They made some tough shots. Got to tip your hat to them. We had a bunch of open looks, a lot of uncontested threes where no one was even close to the guys. We’ve just got to go out and have the same game plan, same mentality, and shoot with confidence.”
The Spurs and Warriors meet in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the AT&T Center, where the home team has won 11 consecutive games.
Golden State rolled to double-figure victories in the first two games at Oakland, Calif., which has been the home of the NBA champion two of the previous three seasons. The Warriors won the series opener 113-92 Saturday and took a 2-0 lead with a 116-101 victory Monday. .
The Silver and Black talked about making a fresh start in the playoffs, but they haven’t looked much different than the team that was swept by Golden State in last year’s conference finals. Still, the Spurs remain resolute.
San Antonio played better in Game 2, coach Gregg Popovich said, but the difference came down to the Spurs’ poor shooting.
“We need to shoot the basketball,” Popovich said Wednesday. “Four-for-28 (from three-point range) isn’t going to win too many basketball games." So, what are you going to do about that, Pop? "We’re not going to shoot much today. Some guys are shooting on their own. It’s just like hitting in baseball."
“They’ll either make shots or they won’t. I’m more concerned about the nuts and bolts of the game and the attitude, and the fiber and the grunt, and all that sort of thing," he said. "I thought we did great in Game 2. We did a good job in a lot of ways. But we’ve got continue that, have that same attitude, and take the same shots and see where it falls.”
The Spurs shot 41.2 percent (35/85), and were a paltry 14.3 percent (4/28) from the three-point line in Game 2. While the Spurs' offensive was sporadic, the Warriors carried over their hot shooting from Game 1.
Golden State shot 52.5 percent (41/78) and nailed 15 of 31 attempts from beyond the arc, The Warriors also had crisp ball movement regardless of who was on the floor for them, finishing with 32 assists on their 41 made field goals.
Spurs All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge rebounded from a subpar performance in Game 1 with a double-double, finishing with 34 points and 12 rebounds. He had only 14 points and two rebounds in the series opener.
Golden State has taken a 2-0 series lead without two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who hasn’t played since going down with a sprained knee March 23. Curry, one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers, is expected to miss the entire first round.
The Spurs remain without All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, who is still rehabbing a quadriceps injury that limited him to nine games during the regular season. He hasn’t played since Jan. 13. Leonard is not expected to return to the lineup in the playoffs.
