I just wanted to start off by saying THANK YOU San Antonio for beating us tonight. You definitely showed us what it's going to take to win a championship. To the Warrior fans, there's no need to panic. Yeah we lost a 16 point lead, but this game was just like game 1 in the Denver series. So please don't get complacent and start losing hope on the Dubs because they're just getting started. San Antonio stole this game from us and this game will only make us stronger. This game made us battle tested and hungry to get it in game 2. I don't know about you guys but we are seeing the young Warriors grow in front of our eyes. From everyone like Draymond Green to Stephen Curry, all the way down the list everyone is getting accounted for and growing into their roles. There's one key, Stephen Curry, who we are seeing blossom in these playoffs. He's really working his way into being one of the top point guards in the league. I truly believe that he is still bitter by being snubbed on the All-Star team and now he's just showing the world how good he could really be. He could have the potential to be accountable for every point that we score whether it be from a shot or a key pass in a play. Especially if he keeps going at this rate, playing every single minute in a double overtime game. I mean he joined history tonight by being the second player ever to record at least 40 points and 10 assists in a playoff game with the other playing being the great Michael Jordan. But enough about that and onto some of the reasons we lost the game.
The first quarter went smoothly by us coming out the gates fast like I said would be one of the keys to the game. But if you guys paid attention, we shot 60% from the field that quarter while they shot a low 39%. But why were we only up 28-25 that quarter? It's because they were sinking their three balls by making 4-5 that quarter and the Warriors struggled only making 1-4. So maybe closing out quicker and getting a hand in their face could've saved a some of their threes from going in. But, I really like how Mark Jackson played the matchups. By saving Curry's energy by putting him on the 3-point sharpshooter Danny Green and putting Draymond, one of our better defenders on Tony Parker who will be giving us nightmare matchup problems all series.
The second quarter was just okay on our part. Yeah we were leading by 4 at the half, but Curry never really answered my keys to the game that I had posted the night before. At the half Curry only had 10 points with Klay being the leading scorer for our team so far. One key play of the quarter was what I warned us of in my Keys To the Game, which was Ginobili's driving dunk on us. This guy is playing healthy and we can't fall asleep on this guy no matter how much he is balding.
In the Third Quarter, The Human Torch finally caught fire. He came out and scored 22 that quarter. I wonder why he always waits until the third to decide to come out and become a game changer. My guess is that he is just studying what the opponent is doing to him in the first half. Then he adjusts and changes his style of play in the third and comes out firing. That could be the only explanation unless the 3rd quarter is really just his quarter that he owns. Because later in the game he just starts to fade away, but that may just be from logging so many minutes throughout the game. But the 3rd quarter really had me believing that the drought would be over. But in the NBA no lead is safe and any team is capable of going on a run, especially the home team.
The fourth quarter was whhere we had one of our biggest meltdowns all season long. It's not surprising yet to some people it was. Throughout the regular season, the Warriors always had a hard time protecting a lead. We just get too comfortable and forget there's still 10 or 8 minutes left in the game. We can't be satisfied with just running the clock down and settling with horrible shot selection. That's exactly how we let San Antonio back in it. They were making easy lay-up shots that fueled their momentum to the point where we couldn't stop their run. Like I said, in this quarter, Curry started fading away. I'm not saying he was non existant. I'm just saying he wasn't taking over the game like he was in the 3rd quarter. I think he just got tired and his shots just started not falling for him. He could've even gotten a better shot with the ball in his hand with time expiring. But then came overtime.
I wasn't around for the first Overtime but was able to follow it on my phone and was surprised that we were able to match bucket for bucket with them since Klay got fouled out following one of his career performances. But I did watch the 2nd Overtime closely. Especially the last minute when Draymond fouled out and we inserted Kent Bazemore. He's a great defender, just young. When Danny Green hit that 3, I'll give that one to him because Bazemore ran out at him flying with his long wingspan but Danny Green is just a better 3 point shooter in the league. But he didn't get discouraged by that. Instead he decides to hustle during a fast break and get the go-ahead bucket to put us up by 1. As soon as San Antonio called their timeout after, i immediately saw him celebrating like the game was already over. I feel like that's where he lost his concentration. Because out of the timeout, San Antonio draws a play where Diaw drew two men with him into the lane leaving Manu, Bazemore's man that play, wide open for the game winning 3 pointer. From that point with 1.2 seconds left we didn't have a clear look to tie or win.
We learned our lesson from this game and like I said, San Antonio stole this one from us just like Denver. So Bogut, stay agressive and keep practicing your free throws, because knowing Coach Pop hw will keep hacking away to get us out of our rythem and his team back into the game. Klay, keep being consistent and quit making bone headed fouls when we got such a big lead. Learn how to take some punches when your up a lot and save your fouls. Harrison keep being the x-factor and making the three ball when you get those open looks. Steph, same thing as my last post, start FASTER. Landry and Draymond keep sticking to your role and I can't see how we can't get game 2 back and take control of home court. We showed tonight that we have what it takes to upset the Spurs. Let's shut the TNT commentator up about it being the "Darlings" against the "Heavyweights" or the "Youth" against the "more experienced." It's time to show the world what the Golden State Warriors are all about.
Dubs reaction to the loss in tomorrow's game will decide the series. Steph ran out of gas playing all 58 minutes, can't rely on him to carry that much of a load and then expect him to hit big time shots at the end esp when Curry has to exert much more energy than any other player running and juking his way to get a shot up with or without the ball. Its a great confidence booster that they owned the Spurs for 3.5 qtrs. They'll pull it out and show the world "We Are Warriors" and "We Belong." Gotta also remember this is Jack's first run at coaching a playoff team too so he is learning, and adjusting where need be. He was playing with house $$ yesterday, no one expected us here, let alone do any damage to the Spurs. Game 1 outta the way, now watch out! Nice post analysis Mike!
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