No. 2 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 7 Spurs
(Warriors win first-round playoff series 4-1)
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92, Saturday, April 14, Oakland, Calif.
Game 2: Warriors 116, Spurs 101, Monday, April 16, Oakland
Game 3: Warriors 110, Spurs 97, Thursday, AT&T Center
Game 4: Spurs 103, Warriors 90, Sunday, AT&T Center
Game 5: Warriors 99, Spurs 91, Tuesday, Oakland
Trailing the Golden State Warriors by two points with 57.2 seconds left in Game 5 on Tuesday night, the underdog Spurs were on the cusp of extending the first-round playoff series for the second time in three days. But it was not to be.
All-NBA forward Kevin Durant hit a 20-foot jump shot with 36.1 seconds left and the Warriors went on to escape with a 99-91 victory at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., winning the series 4-1 and eliminating San Antonio from the postseason for the second year in a row.
Golden State, which has won two of the last three NBA championships, moves on to play New Orleans in the Western Conference semifinals.
The gritty Spurs, who were swept by Golden State in the Western Conrference finals last year, came up short again. But they didn't go quietly into the night after falling behind by as many as 16 points in the second half.
The Silver and Black played the last three games of the series without longtime head coach Gregg Popovich, whose wife died last Wednesday after a prolonged illness. Assistant coach Ettore Messina handled the coaching duties in Popovich’s absence.
"Honestly, there is nothing in this series that surprised me in terms of character,," Messina said in his postgame news conference. "I knew that we had good people willing to play hard and sacrifice. I have not been surprised.
"They have been extremely professional because to lose their leader in such difficult circumstances, and keep playing, keep focusing, keep coming every day to prepare, I think is something that we really have to be extremely thankful to them."
The loss was the 11th in a row on the road for the Spurs, who have lost eight consecutive games on the Warriors' home court.
Durant scored a team-high 25 points and Klay Thompson had 24 after being held to 12 points in Golden State's loss in Game 4 on Sunday. Draymond Green finished with 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the Warriors.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 12 rebounds. He hit 8 of 18 field-goal attempts and was 14 of 14 from the free-throw line. Patty Mills (18), Manu Ginobili (10) and Kyle Anderson (10) also scored in doubled figures.
The game may have been the last for 40-year-old Ginobili, who has won four NBA championships in 16 seasons with the Spurs. Speculation about his retirement has become something of a rite of spring for fans of the team after each of the last three seasons.
In the past, Ginobili has waited until midsummer to announce whether he's continuing his career or retiring. He indicated Tuesday night that this year will be no different.
"I've been contemplating retirement forever," Ginobili told reporters after the game. "Nothing has changed. I just don't know. I'll let a month, two months go by and then I'll see how I feel. I'm not the type of guy that makes decisions on the fly, when you're upset, hurt or whatever. I usually let it sink in and see how it feels."
Golden State was up by 14 (79-65) going into the fourth quarter and led 89-77 before Aldridge sparked a 14-4 run that drew the Silver and Black to within two (93-91). Aldridge had 11 of San Antonio's points during that stretch.
With the Warriors teetering on the brink of disaster, Durant answered with his big shot and added two free throws with 24 seconds left to make it a six-point game. Green ended the scoring with two free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining.
Poor shooting again doomed the Spurs, who made only 37.2 percent (32/86) of their field-goal attempts. They shot 23.3 percent (7/30) from the three-point line. The Silver and Black nailed 15 of 28 three-pointers in their Game 4 win.
Golden State shot 44.6 percent (37/83) overall and 18.5 percent (5/27) from beyond the arc.
Thompson scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lead the Warriors to a 49-38 lead at the half. He hit a 21-foot jumper just before the halftime buzzer, giving Golden State the 11-point lead. Thompson was the only Warriors player in double figures at the break.
The Warriors shot 47.6 percent (20/42) and were 20 percent (3/15) from the three-point line in the first half.
Rudy Gay and Mills led the Spurs' first-half scoring with nine points each. Aldridge had only five points on 2-of-9 shooting in the first two quarters.
The Spurs played hard and held their own on the defensive end, but their offense was sorely lacking in the first half. Their 38-point total at the half was their lowest of the playoffs. San Antonio shot only 31 percent (14/45) and was 25 percent (5/20) from beyond the arc in the first two quarters.
The Warriors jumped out to a 9-0 lead but the Spurs weathered the storm, responding with an 8-0 run. Golden State led 22-20 after one quarter.
