Oracle rocks as Warriors shock Spurs
Fans in Oakland roared as Golden State overcame a 25-point deficit to knock off San Antonio 113-111 in the opener of the Western Conference finals.
WARRIORS 113, SPURS 111
It was a fascinating and interconnected power trio holding the reins of Sunday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Two of the three were on the court and one was in the Oracle Arena locker room. Only one of the three was on the hot seat. San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Warriors acting head coach Mike Brown go back a long way. In 2003, they won a ring together in San Antonio. In 2017, they are competing with each other for the right to try for another one, with Brown standing in for Kerr, and Popovich taking on both.
“It’s not me versus Pop,” Brown said after his team roared back from a 25-point deficit to win 113-111. “It’s the Warriors versus the Spurs.”
But when Brown’s team was down by 20 points at the half, and the Warriors looked illprepared and out of sorts, he was in a difficult spot. The
Warriors haven’t lost a game in these playoffs, and to be blown out at home would be a bad look, even against the mystique-filled Spurs. To add to the weirdness, last season’s interim head coach, Luke Walton, was in the building.
With a loss, all the pressure would flip to the Warriors. All the fingers would point at Brown. All the questions about Kerr would increase in volume.
Going against the man widely considered to be the best coach in sports doesn’t help. Popovich is a mad genius, exploiting matchups and finding ways for his injury-riddled team to succeed.
“That’s Pop,” Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said. “They’re going to throw the whole bag at us.”
And they did. From the tip, the Spurs looked like a team running on momentum and the Warriors looked rusty and lost.
Kerr, who is dealing with health problems, was in the Warriors’ locker room, watching the first half with general manager Bob Myers.
“I love that he’s here,” Myers said. “His presence is always good to have.”
However, the game was not a cure for Kerr’s health woes.
“Yeah, that first half made me feel much better,” Kerr said with a sarcastic smile. The coach plans to attend Tuesday’s game.
In the locker room at halftime, both Kerr and Brown addressed the team, emphasizing the same things.
“I’m always going to check with Steve,” Brown said. “He’s the head coach and I’ll follow his lead. Obviously, we weren’t doing certain things. Getting back to our pace was something he emphasized.”
A television camera recorded Kerr’s address to the team.
“We’ve got to find that balance between pace and discipline,” he told the players. “We’re a little out of sorts. We’re trying to push it. But we turn it over a little bit … and they get some easy ones, so now we’re playing from behind. And the second quarter, we got out of sorts.
“Get your poise back. Wings run like crazy. Settle in. Get three stops in a row and the push will come from that, the pace will come from that. Settle in — we’ll be all right.”
He was right, of course. They were all right.
The players are happy Kerr is there. To a man, they said it was good to hear him.
“It’s always great to hear Coach Kerr’s voice, to get his perspective,” guard Stephen Curry said. “And it’s actually a fresh perspective, because he’s watching the game. So he’s seeing a lot of different angles. He’s seeing how things are developing from a broader perspective so that’s huge for us.”
But out on the bench, it is Brown pushing the buttons, making decisions. The Warriors’ comeback was fueled by the reaggravation of San Antonio All-Star Kawhi Leonard’s ankle injury; the Warriors went on an 18-0 run after that.
Brown’s team had its injury issues. Forward Andre Iguodala, so vital to the Warriors’ small lineup, played 10 minutes in the first half but didn’t return because of a sore left knee. He reportedly will have an MRI exam Monday.
“Andre looked a little hobbled out there,” Brown said. “I just went in another direction.”
That direction was to Livingston, who played the final 14:39 of the game. Brown had Ian Clark at the scorer’s table to sub in the game when Livingston made a dunk on an assist from Draymond Green. Clark sat back down and Livingston followed with a turnaround fadeaway to trim the Warriors’ deficit to 100-99.
“His length out on the floor was defensively good for us, matchup-wise,” Brown said. “Another ball handler. He’s going to make the right play 99.9 percent of the time.”
Brown also played center Zaza Pachulia longer than he normally would, liking “his energy, his toughness, his ability to pay attention to the details.”
There seems to be the perception that Brown is riding a self-driving car, letting Kerr’s mapping take care of everything.
That’s not true. And it especially wasn’t true Sunday as the Warriors struggled to come back. Brown remained unruffled on the sideline.
“He’s been a head coach before, so he’s been in that situation,” Curry said. “He didn’t get rattled. He had to press the right buttons. And he did: Shaun Livingston was the MVP of the game, for sure.”
Popovich, Kerr and Brown are close friends. They talk regularly, laugh and joke, but want to beat each other.
“We’ve had a lot of fun together,” Popovich said. “But make no mistake, everybody who is involved in something like this wants to win.”
On Sunday, the proteges joined forces to beat the mentor. And that head seat on the Warriors’ sideline cooled. For the moment.
“I’m always going to check with Steve. He’s the head coach and I’ll follow his lead. Obviously, we weren’t doing certain things.” Mike Brown, Warriors acting head coach, on input from Steve Kerr