NBA Playoffs 2013: Warriors rally for overtime win over Spurs to tie series

No one predicted Golden State would make it this far at the beginning of the season, but a moral victory would offer them few consolations if they lose in Game 6. Were it not for their dramatic 16-point collapse at the end of Game 1, the Warriors would likely have been the ones poised to move on to the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio is locking down on the backcourt, and Golden State needs to create different opportunities for the duo in this chess match.

And with the series tied 2-2 and headed back to San Antonio for what could be a decisive Game 5, the health of Curry’s ankles is one of the biggest story lines.

In a conversation with reporters on Tuesday, Curry said his ankle was feeling better, courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News:

Like most things with good intentions, the league’s effort to reduce fouls on the way to the basket has had unintended consequences.

First, there’s the effort by the defender to get ahead of the play before bringing the action to a halt. This is backwards. Basketball thrives on open-court creativity and the clear-path foul has become a scourge. Second, the endless replays have become a needless drain on games that are already way too long.

There’s a very reasonable answer to the second question. All playoff games have alternative refs on stand-by in case someone gets hurt. Why not simply deputize them to be replay officials so they can help out their brothers in stripes and get on with it already.

As to the first, there is no good response. Players have become trained to stop the other team from scoring by any means necessary. Two shots and the ball should have been enough of a deterrent, but it’s hasn’t worked. The clear path is this year’s flop and it’s a bad look all the way around.

The Spurs opened up a double-digit lead in the first half as Andrew Bogut and Carl Landry both got in foul trouble and the shots were just not falling for the Warriors. Danny Green was playing tight defense on Stephen Curry, suffering from a sprained ankle. Green was also doing stuff like this on offense.

Manu Ginobili had his biggest game of the year, scoring 21 points and lighting it up from downtown.

If the Spurs lose this game by two points, Kawhi Leonard might want to erase all footage of this missed dunk.

Rather than wait for columnists to bait readers into blind Internet anger, we at SB Nation believe in setting the curve ourselves and doing so honestly. In this installment of “Preemptive Trolling,” we imagine what a syndicated NFL analyst might have to say about Colin Kaepernick taking in Game 4 of the Spurs-Warriors series.

Look, “Kap,” I know your team got to the Super Bowl and it’s the offseason, but you aren’t a champion. You’re no Joe Flacco. He’s elite. You, you’re just out there watching a sport that isn’t even football.

Joe Flacco lives and breathes football. He keeps a football under his pillow when he goes to sleep and he has a pillow shaped like a football. His bed is also shaped like a football.

Curry scored six early points but appears to be in bigger trouble as a result of his tender ankle. He’s not forcing as many off-balanced shots due to the limited motion, which isn’t exactly good news for San Antonio, as he’s found more catch-and-shoot or lull-you-to-sleep types of set shots.

Those easier shots benefited Curry early on, but he’s been inconsistent after hitting a pair of early shots.

Parker was brilliant Friday night as the Spurs grabbed a 2-1 series lead, finishing with 32 points and five rebounds in probably his finest effort of the postseason. However, he dinged up his left leg in the fourth quarter, picking up what was described as a “baseball sized knot.”

He’d finish the game, albeit with an ocassionally noticeable limp. After sitting out practice Saturday and being labeled a game-time decision for the game, Parker still insisted to reporters that he’d be on the court when the time came.

The Spurs are coming off a 10-point win in Game 3 to retake homecourt advantage from the Warriors. Here are three key questions for both teams entering Game 4:

Tony Parker (calf bruise) and Stephen Curry (ankle) were both injured in Game 3 on Friday. Parker’s injury seems less serious, as he made a pregame statement that he’d start Sunday, while Curry wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play. That, combined with the fact that debilitating ankle injuries have plagued Curry throughout his career, makes his injury far more worrisome than Parker’s.

Parker said that he’d start in Game 4, while Curry will be a game-time decision for the Warriors.

After splitting the first two games in San Antonio, the Spurs won Game 3 in Oakland thanks to 32 points from Parker and a better defensive effort. The Warriors shot just 39 percent in that game after shooting 51 percent and 45 percent in the first two games.