Tony Parker Guides Spurs to 2-1 Series Lead Versus Warriors
After struggling with the sharp-shooting Warriors at home, the Spurs finally saw their own shooting hands heat up, while the Warriors cooled off for the first time this postseason.
Tony Parker led the way for San Antonio, scoring 32 points – 25 of which came in the first half – while Tim Duncan added 23 points in the Spurs’ 102-92 win over Golden State in front of a sold out crowd at the Oracle Center. The win now gives the Spurs a 2-1 series lead.
Even more impressive was San Antonio’s defense, which limited the Warriors to 39.3 percent shooting. Stephen Curry, who has arguably been the MVP of the playoffs so far, was held to 5-of-17 shooting and just 16 points, while Klay Thompson didn’t fare much better, hitting 7-of-20 field goals for a 17-point night.
“We made shots, and they didn’t have as good a night shooting the ball,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, according to ESPN.com. “Sometimes it’s as simple as that.”
Even worse news came for Warriors fans when they saw Curry re-sprain his left ankle coming off a curl in the fourth quarter. Inspired by chants of his name from the crowd, Curry stayed in the game, but with a noticeable limp as the Spurs pulled away down the stretch.
The fact that Golden State is banged up couldn’t be ignored in game three. All-Star forward David Lee – who torn his hip flexor earlier this postseason – appeared for just three minutes, scoring five points.
Meanwhile, the veteran Spurs looked healthy and sharp as ever. San Antonio shot better than 50 percent from the field and led most of the way, while successfully thwarting each Golden State comeback attempt.
My first prediction of this series saw the Spurs advancing in five or six games. I changed that to a firm six games after seeing how hard the Warriors battled in game one, but after witnessing the Spurs finally exploit Golden State when it doesn’t absolutely shoot lights out, I have to stick by that prediction. The Warriors should stretch this series out to six games, but they simply couldn’t stay hot forever and the Spurs are just too strong and fundamentally sound to lose this series with the home court advantage.
The Warriors were the hot dark horse pick after they upset the Nuggets in round one, but don’t expect their season to continue much longer, especially with Curry not at 100%.
