Finals a win away for Warriors, with battered Spurs on brink
San humor day.
Gregg Popovich predicted that Golden State stayed out way late after winning Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, celebrating with burgers and sundaes before spending Sunday playing poker. Manu Ginobili, amid plenty of questions about whether his career is ending, said the Spurs planned to lose the first three games of this series simply to make their comeback look more impressive.
The laughs seemed helpful.
The reality is that Golden State is just better, especially against a seriously undermanned Spurs team. Antonio’s sense of was still there Sun-
All jokes aside, the Spurs — and everyone else watching this West final — know it’s just about over. No team has successfully rallied from 3-0 down in an NBA playoff series, and a San Antonio team that is without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and now David Lee is facing that most precarious deficit. Game 4 is Monday in San Antonio, with Golden State now on the brink of clinching its third straight NBA Finals trip.
“Circumstances were such that we could be in a totally different position now,” said Popovich, the Spurs coach whose teams have been swept only twice in 52 previous series on his watch. “That didn’t happen. It’s called life. Slap yourself. Quit your crying and move on. Game 4.”
He’s right, of course. How different this could have been if Leonard didn’t reinjure his ankle when San Antonio was rolling with a 23-point lead in the third quarter of Game 1. The Spurs led by at least 22 points in each of their first four games against the Warriors this season. What they did against Golden State worked better than what anyone else did against Golden State. Then, thud. Leonard — who won’t play in Game 4 barring something “miraculous,” Popovich said — has been out since landing on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in a hotly debated was-it-dirty-or-not closeout by the Warriors’ center. Game 1 changed in that instant, the whole series changed along with it and the Warriors will become the first team in NBA history to start a postseason 12-0 if they win on Monday.
“You know what the Spurs are about. ... They’ve got a lot of pride. These guys are pros, man,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said. “We can’t come out here and feel like we’ve won already before the game has started. We’ve got to go take it.”
The Warriors have made it look easy, which is their normal. Golden State has won 12 consecutive games, the third time this season the Warriors have enjoyed such a streak. Combine the regular season and the postseason, and this Golden State team (78-15, .839) has a better record so far than last year’s regular-season record-setting .830). Still, they’re not satisfied. “We’ve got to play better,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. club (88-18,
Celtics stagger on: Isaiah Thomas done, may need surgery
CLEVELAND » Isaiah Thomas pushed his undersized body — and the Boston Celtics — as far as he possibly could.
Battling a hip injury the past two months and then playing through the darkest period of his life, he proved an inspiration while dedicating his performances to his late sister.
Thomas left it all on the floor, and paid the price.
The All-Star point guard’s season is over, and his team is likely to soon follow. The Celtics trail the Cleveland Cavaliers 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals after Sunday night’s dramatic 111-108 win.
Thomas didn’t travel with the Celtics, staying in Boston so he can visit hip specialists. Before Sunday’s shootaround, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Thomas may need surgery for the hip impingement, which has been bothering him since March.
The injury was so severe that Stevens said he was surprised Thomas was able to play Game 7 of Boston’s semifinal series against Washington.
Thomas got through the first half of Friday’s 44-point loss in Game 2 before the team shut him down to avoid further injury.