WARRIORS DIDN’T GO EASY ON SPURS
As Spurs mourn death of Popovich’s wife Erin, Golden State Warriors goes on to win Game 3 in playoffs series
Playing basketball seemed trivial to the Spurs following the death of Erin Popovich.
They competed as best they could Thursday night. It just wasn’t enough against Golden State, again.
Kevin Durant had 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and the Warriors beat San Antonio 110-97 for a 3-0 series lead over the Spurs, who were still reeling from the death of Gregg Popovich’s wife.
“It was a perfect setup for a letdown,” Golden State forward Draymond Green said. “I don’t say that to be insensitive at all to the situation. We all take this basketball stuff serious and we want to win, but when you start talking life and death, a game doesn’t matter. But yet we still wanted to come out and try to win the game.”
The Warriors can close the first-round series with a win Sunday afternoon in San Antonio in Game 4.
“It’s hard to think about that for me, personally, right now because there is other stuff bigger than basketball,” Spurs veteran Tony Parker said.
The Spurs were playing a day after the death of Erin Popovich, who passed away after battling an undisclosed long-term illness. Erin and Gregg Popovich were married four decades and have two children and two grandchildren.
San Antonio did not air a video tribute or hold a moment of silence for Erin in an apparent attempt to make the game as routine as possible for its players, but that was impossible.
Coach Popovich was not in his customary position roaming the sidelines, choosing instead to be with his family. San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina coached the team in Popovich’s place.
“We are all hurting,” Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said after the morning shootaround. “We want to be next to Pop, we want to support him, but we’ve got to go out there and compete today. But, for sure, we are toiling. It’s not an easy day to be here.”
Ginobili and Parker said it was tough to play basketball following Erin’s passing, but the team’s goal was to compete and play with the grit Popovich has always demanded of them.
Parker, who said Erin and Gregg were a mother and father to him when he entered the league as a 19-year-old, lived up to those wishes. Parker, who averaged 2.0 points in the first two games, finished with 16 points in 17 minutes. /