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OAKLAND – After sleepwalking through the NBA’s dog days, the Warriors finally woke up.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson nailed 3-pointers at a prolific rate. Thompson also threw down a hammer dunk. And after falling in and out of the rotation, Warriors veteran center JaVale McGee injected energy by converting off lobs and making defensive stops.
As a result, the Warriors secured a 122-105 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at Oracle Arena in what marked Steve Kerr’s 250th career win. While becoming the fourth Warriors coach to accomplish that featured (Alvin Attles, Don Nelson, Edward Gottlieb), Kerr posted the milestone in only 302 games. It took other established NBA coaches much longer, including former Bulls and Lakers coach Phil Jackson (346) and former Lakers, Knicks and Heat coach Pat Riley (348).
The Warriors depended on their star power with Curry Thompson (25 points), Curry (17) Draymond Green (17), Zaza Pachulia (12) and Kevin Durant (XX) all contributing. The Warriors’ bench also helped with David West (13) and McGee (seven) leading the way. And the Warriors relied on yet another third-quarter run, which entailed holding the Spurs to an inefficient rate from the field (31 percent) and from 3-point range (22.2 percent).
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Simply put, the Warriors showed the most energy since securing a win over the Boston Celtics victory two weeks ago in what could serve as an NBA Finals preview. And after losing three of their previous five games, the Warriors secured a win against the Spurs that could serve as a preview in the Western Conference semifinals.
Granted, the Warriors (43-13) had much more depth than a Spurs team (35-22) decimated by injuries to Tony Parker (back) and Kawhi Leonard (right quadriceps tendinopathy). But as Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “it’s always a fair fight with the Spurs; it seems like no matter who they have, they’re always competitive.”
Therefore, the game did not start out as lopsided.
The Spurs led by as many as 12 points. After disappearing in last year’s Western Conference Finals, Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge posted eight of his 20 points in the first quarter. After defying expectations and Father Time in recent seasons, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had six of his 13 points in the first quarter.
But then, the Warriors came to life. They decreased the Spurs first-quarter lead to 33-24 after closing out the period with a 12-2 run. In the second quarter, the Warriors forced San Antonio to miss all five of its 3-point attempts. And holding a 58-55 halftime lead, the Warriors outscored the Spurs, 33-20, in the third quarter.