Warriors take 3-0 series lead over Spurs

The Spurs played inspired basketball on Thursday night after the loss of Erin Popovich, Coach Popovich’s wife, but it jus wasn’t enough to win Game 3. The Spurs continued to give great energy and effort all night but they just don’t have the personnel to beat this Warriors team.

It was a balanced attack from the Warriors all night as Durant led the way with 26 points, and Klay Thompson put in 19 of his own. Shaun Livingston came off the bench for 16 points and and Quinn Cook scored 12.

The Warriors have won 19 of their last 20 playoff games and it doesn’t look like it will slow down anytime soon.

This one got away from the Spurs in the second half. They’ll look to avoid the sweep in Game 4.

We’ve had back-to-back ankle rolls from Kevin Durant and Shaun Livingston. Both players walked off on their own but other looked rather painful. Let’s get this game over with before anything serious happens.

Whatever you do, do not give the Warriors three chances. The Warriors are just demoralizing when they’re like this.

Warriors really taking control of this now. The Spurs are right there but just can’t get over the hill. Seems like they could benefit from a guy like Kawhi Leonard right about now.

After a huge Patty Mills three-pointer, the Spurs continue to climb back into this. They certainly have a fight in them tonight. The Warriors are shooting 1-of-14 from behind the three-point line tonight. That’s also helping the Spurs stay close.

It’s been a half of runs for both of these teams in the first half. The Warriors lead by as many as nine while the Spurs led by as many as six. The score is actually a relief for the Spurs after going scoreless for several minutes toward the end of the second quarter. Durant has 17 points at the half for Golden State while Rudy Gay and Tony Parker both have 10 points a piece for San Antonio.

TONY PARKER IS HERE. He’s up to 10 points off the bench. This is vintage Parker right now.

Golden State found themselves down six early in this game but fought back in the first quarter thanks to 10 points from Kevin Durant. Durant went 4-of-9 from the field through 12 minutes.

After two games in Oakland that weren’t particularly close, the Golden State Warriors try for a commanding 3-0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night in Game 3 of their first-round NBA playoff series at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Klay Thompson has been on fire in this series, averaging 29 points per game on 69.7 percent shooting, including 10-for-14 (.714) from three-point range. He scored 31 in Monday night’s 116-101 win at Oracle Arena.

Kevin Durant isn’t far behind Thompson in scoring, at 28 points per game, including 32 in Game 2. The duo has helped Golden State, the second seed in the Western Conference, to average wins of 18 points in this series even without Stephen Curry, who is out with a sprained left knee.

“No one can make up Steph’s contributions individually,” Thompson told the Associated Press on Monday. “That’s got to be done as a team and even then it’s hard with the way he can shoot the ball.”

LaMarcus Aldridge has led the way for the Spurs with 24 points and seven rebounds per game, but he is one of just three San Antonio players scoring in double digits in this series, along with Rudy Gay and Patty Mills.

San Antonio hopes to turn things around at home, where they were 33-8 during the regular season, the third-best home record in the NBA.

Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

Game time: 9:30 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Announcers: Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, and David Aldridge

Online streaming: Watch TNT