Warriors shake off slow start to roll to 116-101 victory and 2-0 series lead
OAKLAND >> The Warriors feared what was coming. Their dominance could lead to complacency. Their discipline could lead to sloppiness. Their accuracy could lead to inefficiency.
The Warriors still finished with a 116-101 Game 2 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Oracle Arena for a 2-0 firstround series lead. Before they won their 11th consecutive home playoff game, though, the Warriors provided a case study on how much it contrasted to their dominant Game 1 victory over San Antonio on Saturday.
For the Warriors’ case, however, such issues become an afterthought for reasons beyond having control of the first-round series entering Game 3 on Thursday
in San Antonio. The Warriors leaned on Kevin Durant (32 points on 10of-19 shooting) and Klay Thompson (31 points on 12of-20 shooting) to make up for the Spurs’ increased aggression.
After missing four of his first five shots, Thompson made a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 88-77 cushion with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter after opening the period on an 8-2 run.
“It doesn’t matter if I make five in a row or I miss five in a row,” Thompson said. “I’m going to have the same mentality when I get down the court.”
Though he went 3-of-9 from 3-point range, Durant stayed efficient elsewhere.
“His second half was just an explosion,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Thompson. “KD was just methodical. He’s amazing. Kevin, you look up at the end of the game and he has 30-plus points. It just happens every night. That’s how talented he is. He kept us afloat when we needed him to. When Klay got us going in the second half, it was that burst we needed.”
That’s because the game featured eight ties and 11 lead changes. The Warriors ended the first half committing 11 of their 15 turnovers. And the Warriors had no answers for Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge in Game 2 (34 points on 11-of-21 shooting) after limiting him in Game 1 (5-of-12 from the field). But after leading the league 31.2 points per game in the third quarter during the regular season, the Warriors took a 59-56 lead with 8:05 left in the third quarter after opening the second half with a 12-3 run.
“I thought we met their level of physicality and force,” Kerr said. “They took it to us the whole first half. They were tremendous defensively.”
Kerr did not describe Durant that way regarding his initial play.
“In the first half, they took us out of everything. So our default when we’re not running our offense is to go to KD because he’s our best player,” Kerr said.
“I give them credit for taking us out of our offense. We got disjointed. But we did a much better job in the second half.”
As a result, the circumstances were different between both playoff games.
In Game 1, the Warriors enjoyed a double-digit lead for the entire second half. The Spurs also never led in the game. And the Warriors displayed what Popovich called “the most sti- fling defense we faced all year long.”
In Game 2, the Warriors struggled guarding their Aldridge (34 points on 11-of-21 shooting), Patty Mills (21 points) and Rudy Gay (12 points).
Still in Game 2, the Warriors showed their offense can overcome almost everything.
Draymond Green had nine points, five rebounds and four assists, but he missed his first five shots. McGee added 10 points and seven rebounds, but he became plagued with foul trouble (three).
In his second consecutive game as the starting point guard, Andre Iguodala added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
But mostly everything centered on Durant and Thompson just like it did in Game 1.
Then, Durant nearly posted a triple double (24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists). Thompson also went 11 of-13 from the field.
“He puts a lot of fear in the opponent and they have to account for him,” Kerr said of Thompson. “He’s not always going to make a shot, but he’s always going to make a huge impact. Defensively, he’s one of the best on ball guys in the league, so we are awfully blessed.”