Warriors Vs. Spurs 2/8/2021

The Spurs came into this game riding a 2 game win streak. The Warriors were coming off of a rough loss to the Mavericks but a nice win before that. These two teams played earlier in the season and the Warriors clobbered the Spurs 121-99. In that matchup James Wiseman played very well getting a bunch of lobs. The Warriors were missing Wiseman and Looney though so we saw how that affected the Warriors. The Warriors did get Eric Paschall back though so that was a nice bonus. The Spurs were missing LaMarcus Aldridge so that looked like it might counteract the fact that the Warriors centers were out. For the Spurs to win they likely needed to play good defense especially after the Warriors had 2 games where they averaged 139.5 points. They also needed Demar DeRozan to have another 30+ point game. For the Warriors to win they needed to keep scoring well, make sure that rebounding wasn’t an issue, and guard Demar DeRozan. The Warriors also possibly needed Draymond Green to keep racking up assists. Did the Warriors get the win or did the Spurs get revenge and take the win? To the game!

The Spurs won the tip which led to a Draymond Green 3 after a defensive stop. At 10:35 Keldon Johnson made a 3 to give the Spurs their first points of the game. At 10:00 Keldon Johnson made a layup to take the lead for the Spurs. At 6:33 Kelly Oubre Jr. made a his 3rd three of the game to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. At 4:57 Devin Vassell made a 3 to tie the game at 18. With 56.2 seconds to go Kent Bazemore made a layup to give the Warriors a 6 point lead. To end the first quarter Stephen Curry made a stepback 30 foot buzzer beater to give the Warriors a 36-27 lead at the end of the quarter. The Warriors were being led by Curry and Oubre with a combined 25 points. Johnson was leading the Spurs with 7 points. The Warriors did surprisingly well on the rebounding side of things in the first quarter out rebounding the Spurs by 3. They also shared the ball well with 4 more assists than the Spurs. The Warriors did turn it over a bit too much and had 5 turnovers in the first quarter compared to the fact that the Spurs didn’t have a single turnover. The Warriors shot very well in the first quarter with 59.1% from the field and 63.6% from 3. The Spurs on the other hand shot 37% from the field and 42.9% from 3. The Warriors played well in the first quarter and hoped to carry that over to the second quarter.

To start the 2nd quarter Patty Mills made a 3 to make it a 6 point game. At 9:48 Eric Paschall made a jumper for the Warriors first points of the quarter. At 8:48 Andrew Wiggins made a fadeaway jumper on the block to give the Warriors an 11 point lead. At 5:51 Vassell made a 3 to make it a 7 point game. At 3:27 Jakob Poeltl made a layup to cut the Spur deficit to 3 points. At 1:49 Poeltl made a dunk to tie the game. The next play Draymond Green got a dunk to retake the lead. With 46.8 seconds to go in the first half Kelly Oubre Jr. made a 3 to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. At halftime the Warriors were leading 59-54. The Spurs cut back the lead a little bit in the second quarter by only having 3 turnovers compared to the Warriors’ 12 at halftime. They also had 4 more steals and 1 more block than the Warriors at the half. The Warriors had 2 more fouls than the Spurs but had 5 more assists than the Spurs at halftime. The Warriors had also been shooting much better than the Spurs with 53.5% from the field and 47.4% from 3. The Spurs on the other hand shot 38.9% from the field and 38.5% from 3. Draymond played well in the first half with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and a block. Oubre Jr. and Curry kept playing well and Dejounte Murray improved a little bit in the second quarter with 16 points once it was over. To the third!

To start the 3rd quarter Juan Toscano-Anderson made a dunk which Jakob Poeltl followed up with a layup. At 8:35 Poeltl made a layup to take a 1 point lead. At 8:20 Toscano-Anderson made a dunk to retake the lead. Dejounte Murray followed that up with a layup to retake the lead. Many plays later at 4:09 DeRozan made a jumper to give the Spurs a 6 point lead. At 1:37 Kelly Oubre Jr. got a wide open dunk to tie the game at 78. With 25.7 seconds left in the quarter Oubre Jr. made almost the exact same dunk to give the Warriors a 2 point lead. The Warriors were leading 80-78 after the 3rd quarter. The Spurs kept playing well in the 3rd quarter winning it by 3 points. All of the Warriors turnovers were really costing them because after the 3rd quarter the Spurs had 15 more points off turnovers than the Warriors. The Spurs also had 6 more steals but 2 less blocks than the Warriors. The Warriors were still shooting better than the Spurs with 50% from the field and 40% from 3. The Spurs on the other hand shot 40.8% from the field and 30% from downtown. Both teams hoped to take the lead and the win in the 4th quarter.

To start the 4th quarter Rudy Gay made a 3 to give the Spurs a 1 point lead. At 10:46 the Warriors got their first points of the quarter and took the lead with a couple of Wiggins free throws. At 9:43 Vassell made a baseline jumper to retake the lead of the Spurs. At 8:37 Patty Mills made a 3 to put the Spurs up half a dozen. At 5:08 Curry made a 3 to lower the Spur lead to 4. At 2:50 Murray made a 3 to give the Spurs a 5 point lead. With 37.8 seconds to go Curry made a layup to make it a 1 point game. With 12.6 seconds left Murray made a 3 to make it a 4 point game. With 9.2 seconds left in the game Curry made a stepback 3 to make it a 1 point game. The Warriors then fouled Demar DeRozan who made both free throws to make it a 3 point game with 8.7 seconds to go. The Spurs ended up winning 105-100 after Draymond Green took a terrible 3 with 5 seconds left in the game.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: Despite the fact that Curry and Oubre Jr. combined for 56 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks. Curry on his own had 32 points. Draymond also had a good game except for his terrible shot at the end. Draymond had 7 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks. The Warriors took an early lead winning the first quarter by 9 points but they lost every quarter after that. The Warriors had 20 turnovers which was the main reason to their demise along with the fact that the Spurs were able to capitalize on those turnovers with 17 points off turnovers. The Spurs also had 12 steals compared to the Warriors’ 4. On the bright side of things the 3 more rebounds and 5 more assists than the Spurs. Both teams shooting splits were somewhat similar with 44.2% from the field and 35.1% from downtown for the Warriors and 40.6% from the field and 35.5% from deep for the Spurs. This was the second game in a row that the Warriors should have won but couldn’t close it out in crunch time. Overall, this was a disappointing loss where the Warriors turned the ball over way too much.