Now it’s the Spurs’ turn to battle Warriors
Golden State has gone unbeaten through first two playoff rounds
OAKLAND, Calif. — Leave it to San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to play mind games ahead of the Western Conference finals, which open today.
So, what will he do to prepare his defense to stop the high-flying Warriors?
“Pray,” Popovich quipped Saturday before the Spurs departed Texas for the Bay Area. Stephen Curry could only chuckle at that one. “Gamesmanship,” Golden State’s Curry said, “I love it.”
Popovich doesn’t have his old coaching pals Mike Brown or Steve Kerr fooled. Brown spent part of last season working unofficially alongside Popovich and is now coaching Golden State in place of the ailing Kerr, who attended practice Saturday for the first time in more than three weeks as he recovers from his latest procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak that left him dealing with debilitating symptoms.
“That’s Pop,” Brown said with a laugh. “He’s doing a lot more than praying right now. He knows what he wants to do against us.”
As dominant as the Warriors have been sweeping through the first two rounds of the playoffs against Portland and Utah, praying might not hurt either.
Kevin Durant doesn’t care who is on the court for San Antonio. He knows that Popovich will have his group ready — complete with a few surprises in the playbook.
Tony Parker is out the rest of the way with a leg injury. Kawhi Leonard is not at 100 percent because of a tender ankle. Tim Duncan is long ago retired.
“They’re a machine,” Durant said. “They just keep going at you, no matter who’s on the court. They run their system. Similar to us, I feel like, where a guy goes down, somebody steps in.”
San Antonio dismantled James Harden and Houston 114-75 in Game 6 on Thursday night behind LaMarcus Aldridge’s 34 points and 12 rebounds to close out the series as All-Star Leonard sat out nursing an injured left ankle he hurt in a Game 5 overtime win. CAVALIERS: Cleveland backup center Walter Tavares broke his right hand during practice this week.
While the injury isn’t expected to hurt Cleveland going forward, it reinforced coach Tyronn Lue’s plan not to scrimmage while the defending champ await an opponent in the Eastern Conference finals.
The 7-foot-3 Tavares, who was signed on the final day of the regular season, broke a hand during an informal scrimmage Thursday. An X-ray and bone scan confirmed the injury.
FAMOUS DOG: Outside the Detroit Pistons’ multisport facility, the NBA draft queries could wait.
The first topic of conversation with team czar Stan Van Gundy late Friday afternoon was on Eastwood, the 1-year-old Labrador retriever mix the Van Gundy family adopted from an animal shelter.
Van Gundy is amazed at how word of the act of kindness from his family has spread all over the world.
“Eastwood was in the Daily Mirror in London,” Van Gundy said incredulously while he waited for a car to carry him away from the last day of the NBA draft combine. “ABC News two nights in a row, the nightly news. People Magazine, their online site. It’s been crazy.”