Warriors vs. Spurs: San Antonio takes series with Game 6 victory

“I made that choice” Popovich said after the game. While he did not reveal his reasoning, it is adjustments like this that can change the outcome of the game. Duncan had been an efficient source of offense for the Spurs through the first three quarters of the game, scoring on seven of his 11 field goals:

However, in the fourth quarter Duncan was no longer producing for San Antonio. Duncan took two field goals and missed each. The Warriors were attacking the paint and challenging the Spurs’ bigs out of the pick and roll.

Barnes returned to play all 12 minutes in the third quarter but was taken out of the game after suffering from a headache. After taking such a hard fall, it was surprising to see Barnes play at all in the second half, let alone an entire quarter.

When pressed with questions during his postgame press conference, Warriors’ coach Mark Jackson said that he “wasn’t sure whether it was a concussion or not” that Barnes had suffered after falling, and that to the “best of his knowledge” Barnes cleared all tests during halftime.

Tim Duncan started the game strong and scored 13 of his 19 points in the opening 24 minutes, even though Popovich elected to bench him in the final period due to defensive matchups. Harrison Barnes helped to keep the Warriors afloat in the first half as he scored eight of his nine points in 18 first-half minutes. He was never quite the same after taking this brutal fall in the second period:

Barnes returned and played the entire third quarter, but he was eventually taken out of the game after suffering from a headache. A team spokesman confirmed after the game that Barnes underwent concussion tests at halftime and was cleared to return to the game.

Parker then slammed the door on the Warriors with another three, pushing the lead to nine with under 1:30 left in the game. While he wasn’t very efficient for San Antonio through the night, he made big shots down the stretch and put the Spurs over the top.

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Let’s take a look at three keys Kevin Zimmerman previewed going into the game.

Curry scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and provided the scoring push Golden State needed in the first half to keep pace with the Spurs. His backcourt mate Thompson, however, had a poor first half. He scored two points on one-of-six shooting and the Spurs have done a great job of closing out on Thompson and forcing him to handle the ball.

If not, Parker will take Bogut off the dribble and finish at the rim unchallenged.

In the following possession, the Spurs set a high ball screen for Parker again. This time, Bogut is pushes high enough to challenge Parker and has a help defender behind him. But Bogut shifts back into the paint anticipating Parker to drive to the rim, and Parker pulls up for the jumper. The space created from the screen, along with Bogut backing up, leaves Parker with an open look.

The Spurs scored 44 points in the paint and scored 23 points off 14 Warriors turnovers, 11 of which came in the dominant second half. They scored 12 fast break points and converted on 5-of-5 looks in transition. They won the offensive rebounding battle, 8-7.

San Antonio won this game by making things easy on themselves, taking care of the basketball and converting on high-percentage shots. Their shot chart shows it:

It was with an uninspiring line to be sure -- zero points, two rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot -- that he finished the game. But for a player who will go down as one of the greatest scorers of his era, it was a significant career achievement.

The seven-time All-Star signed with the Spurs for the remainder of the season on April 16. With the team on the brink of advancing to the Western Conference Finals and potentially the NBA Finals, he could be in store for a few more career milestones before he hangs up his sneakers.

Though the box score shows a tightly-contested game from a numbers perspective, the Spurs dominated the hustle stats; getting to loose balls, making easy shots in transition and contesting all of Golden State’s looks.

Thompson and Curry each failed to find rhythm in the first half and combined for just nine points on 4 of 16 shooting. Barnes scored 15 and Jack added nine in first half.

SB Nation’s Rodger Sherman broke things down before the action began and looked at some keys to the game. Here’s a look at them after 24 minutes of action:

Thanks to head coach Mark Jackson, the Bay Area’s dynamic duo now has to live up to the “best backcourt in NBA history” moniker. So far, it’s been rough going for the young guards who have struggled to find their shot early on, shooting just 4-for-16 from the field combined.

Duncan is trying to protect the basket, but Jack sinks a jumper instead of challenging Duncan at the rim.

The Spurs cannot give the Warriors’ ball handlers space to take quality looks. Duncan backed up to prevent dribble penetration, but that is not a solution for San Antonio. The Spurs must crowd ball handlers more and rely on their help defenders to rotate to stop everyone else.

Ginobili did slow down in the second half as fatigue set in, and he missed a potential game-winning three late in the fourth quarter. Once overtime hit it was pretty much a wrap, as the veteran airballed a three and missed a layup.

Still, Ginobili played great for most of the game, and SB Nation’s Spurs blog Pounding The Rock lamented the fact that he did not get enough support:

Jack hit three straight jumpers to pull Golden State within four before tying the game on another jumper with 58 seconds remaining. He did miss a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, but then he opened the scoring in overtime and helped put the final nail in the coffin with two free throws in a 97-87 victory.

When the dust finally settled, Jack finished the game with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. He turned the ball over just twice in 37 minutes, a major positive for a Warriors team that has been dealing with some turnover issues.

Before the game and after receiving a pain-killing injection, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick, Curry told Warriors coach Mark Jackson, “I’m going to give you what I got, coach.”

“That’s not the language he speaks,” Jackson said. “That’s dialogue, that’s conversation that we don’t normally hear.”

“It was a tough game to score in,” he said of the 97-87 loss that tied the conference semifinals series at two games apiece. “We both played great defense. In overtime we just stopped scoring. We kept running the same plays, our usual stuff, and it just didn’t fall. And they made all their shots in overtime.”

San Antonio ended up shooting 36 percent from the floor and 26 from three-point range. The Spurs also missed 11 of 25 free throws on the day, a number of which would’ve bumped the 84 points by the end of regulation out of the reach of Golden State, which only shot 38 percent itself.

The San Antonio Spurs missed open shots, missed free throws and didn’t take advantage of their defense forcing poor shooting and 18 turnovers in regulation. As a result, the Golden State Warriors did enough to get the game to overtime and won, 97-87, in ORACLE Arena on Sunday afternoon to tie the series at two.

Golden State ran off nine straight points in the overtime period and the Spurs didn’t score until only 1:30 remained. By then it was too late. The home team used their raucous crowd to win the overtime, 13-3.

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.

Parker suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Spurs’ 102-92 Game 3 victory on Friday night. He said he “got kicked pretty bad,” but he stayed in the game despite a limp. The Spurs’ star point guard finished the game with 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting.

Parker said Saturday he has a “baseball sized knot” in his left calf, but he does not expect it to keep him off the court. He did not get an X-ray and team doctors are confident the injury is only a bruise.

Here’s a .GIF of the play Curry was injured on:

Warriors coach Mark Jackson confirmed that the injury is a sprain in his post-game press conference, but wouldn’t speculate on Curry’s return, telling reporters that Curry was “icing it (and) getting treatment,” and that “we’ll see where he’s at” when it came to his availability for Sunday’s Game 4.

The Spurs kept to a familiar pattern for much of the game, building up a lead the Warriors would whittle down time and again, but they fended off a final charge in the last few minutes by locking down on defense and never letting their lead shrink under five points. Golden State never led in the second half, despite tying the game in the third and cutting the San Antonio lead to one with just over 10 minutes to go.

More worryingly for the Warriors, who lost the home-court advantage they stole with their Game 2 win in San Antonio, Curry turned his left ankle in the fourth quarter. He limped it off, and remained in the game, but was clearly limited in the final minutes of the fourth period. Curry was mostly ineffective in the second half before his injury, but with a quick two-day turnaround before Sunday’s Game 4, a hurt Curry may all but condemn Golden State to a 3-1 hole.

Will the Spurs take command of the series, or will the dynamic backcourt of Curry and Thompson continue to be the story of the series? Here are three keys to Game 3.

San Antonio’s defense gave up 44 points to Curry in Game 1, and a dominant performance from Thompson should force the Spurs to adjust their game plan. The Spurs looked uncharacteristically unprepared to account for Thompson as he outplayed their perimeter defense. Aside from Thompson’s shooting ability, he also moves well off-ball and does not need much time or space to get a shot off. The Spurs are short on individual perimeter defenders to send at both Thompson and Curry and are in a bind defensively.