Warriors Vs. Spurs 2/9/2021

This was the second game of a back-to-back between these 2 teams. In the first game of this back-to-back the Spurs won and it was close to the finish. That game gave the Spurs their 3rd win in a row. Both of the centers for the Warriors were still out in this game and so was LaMarcus Aldridge for the Spurs. For the Warriors to split this back-to-back they needed to cut down the turnovers from last game and keep playing good defense. For the Spurs to get their 4th win in a row they needed to keep forcing turnovers, have a nice game out of either Dejounte Murray or Demar DeRozan, and stop Stephen Curry. Did Curry have another nice win to help the Warriors to the win or did the Spurs force a bunch of turnovers and take both games of the back-to-back? To the game!

The Spurs won the tip which led to a Dejounte Murray midrange jumper after a few of stops from each team. At 10:31 Andrew Wiggins made 2 free throws for the Warriors first points of the quarter. At 6:56 Murray made a layup to take a 4 point lead for the Spurs. At 6:09 Keldon Johnson made a layup to give the Spurs a 6 point lead. At 5:03 Juan Toscano-Anderson made a 3 to make it a 5 point game. At 4:13 Patty Mills made a 3 to retake a 5 point lead for the Spurs. At 1:03 Damion Lee made a 3 to give the Warriors a 2 point lead. With 44.9 seconds left in the quarter Mills made 2 free throws to tie it up. With 34.9 seconds left in the quarter Stephen Curry made a layup to retake the lead. At the end of the quarter the Warriors were leading 28-26. Both teams played pretty well in the first quarter with pretty much even rebounding and even assisting numbers. The Spurs had 2 more turnovers and 2 more fouls than the Warriors after the first quarter. On the defensive side of things the Warriors had 3 steals and the Spurs had none. The Warriors had 2 blocks and the Spurs had 3 blocks. The Warriors shot a bit better than the Spurs with 43.5% from the field and 37.5% from 3. The Spurs shot 37.5% from the field and 40% from 3. The Spurs did shoot extremely well from the free throw line not missing a free throw compared to the Warriors’ 55.6% from there. Both teams looked to take a lead in the second quarter.

To start the 2nd quarter Wiggins made a layup for the first points of the quarter. The next play Rudy Gay made 2 free throws to give the Spurs their first points of the quarter. At 11:13 Damion Lee made a 3 to take a 5 point Warrior lead. At 7:41 Johnson made a floater to cut it to a 4 point game. Andrew Wiggins quickly followed that up with a floater of his own to bring the lead back up to 6. At 4:23 Trey Lyles made a layup to take a 41-40 lead for the Spurs. At 4:11 Kelly Oubre Jr. made a 3 to retake the lead for the Warriors. At 3:49 Trey Lyles made 2 free throws to retake a Spurs lead. Then at 3:30 Toscano-Anderson made a baseline jumper to retake the lead for the Warriors. At 2:05 Mills made a 3 to retake the lead for the Spurs. At 1:04 Stephen Curry made 2 free throws to tie the game at 48. Then with 33 seconds left in the half Oubre Jr. made 2 free throws to take a 2 point lead for the Warriors. With 10.4 seconds left in the half DeRozan made a jumper to tie the game. To end the half Toscano-Anderson missed 2 layups. At halftime the score was 50-50. The Warriors missed 6 layups in the first half but the game was still tied. The turnover issue seemed to somewhat disappear for the Warriors in the first half with only 3. The Spurs had a 3 more turnovers than the Warriors but it wasn’t a problem. Both teams played pretty equally in almost every aspect of the game other than the fact that the Warriors had 3 more steals and 2 fewer blocks than the Spurs. The shooting splits were also pretty even with 40% from the field and 35.7% from 3 for the Warriors and 38.1% from the field and 33.3% from 3 for the Spurs. The Spurs also still hadn’t missed a free throw at halftime while the Warriors were shooting 60% from the free throw line. Damion Lee was a bright spot for the Warriors off the bench with 11 points and 3 rebounds. Curry also played well with 16 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist. DeRozan was the only Spur with double digit scoring in the first half with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. Both teams looked to gain momentum in the 3rd quarter and take a nice lead going into the final quarter. To the third!

To start the 3rd quarter Stephen Curry made 3 free throws to give the Warriors a 3 point lead. At 11:30 Vassell made a 3 to tie up the game. Draymond Green then made a layup to retake the lead for the Warriors. At 10:10 Stephen Curry then made a 3 to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. At 8:14 Curry made a layup to give the Warriors a 10 point lead. At 6:49 Curry made a stepback 3 to take a 15 point lead for the Warriors. Then at 5:17 Curry made another stepback 3 to give him 30 points and give the Warriors a 21 point lead. That play was near the end of a 26-5 run. Then after 2 Spur 3’s the Spurs had cut it back down to 15. At 3:06 Kent Bazemore made a fast break layup to take another 20 point lead for the Warriors. At the end of the 4th quarter the Warriors were leading 86-70. The Warriors played an amazing 3rd quarter winning it 36-20. The Warriors forced 5 more turnovers than the Spurs in this quarter. They also had 3 steals in the third quarter. The Warriors had 5 more assists than the Spurs in the 3rd quarter. The Warriors were also shooting much better with 45.6% from the field and 41.4% from 3 after the 3rd. The Spurs kept shooting below average with 36.5% from the field and 31.8% from 3 after the 3rd. The Spurs still hadn’t missed a free throw after the 3rd quarter and the Warriors were shooting 66.7% of theirs. The Warriors hoped to maintain the lead and take home the win in the 4th quarter.

To start the 4th quarter Rudy Gay made a hook shot to make it a 14 point game. The next play Eric Paschall made a layup to make it a 16 point game once again. At 6:53 Wiggins made a 3 to retake a 21 point lead for the Warriors. Throughout the rest of the game the Warriors maintained a 20+ point lead. The Warriors won 114-93.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: Both teams played a pretty average first half. The Warriors were able to go on a 26-5 run in the heart of the 3rd quarter which ended up hoisting them to a beautiful win. The turnovers weren’t an issue in this game with only 10 compared to last game when they had 20. The Spurs ended up having 14 turnovers which was 4 more than in the pair last game. Some of the good things the Warriors did were that they had 6 more assists than the Spurs, 5 more rebounds than the Spurs, and 6 more steals than the Spurs. The Warriors also shot much better than the Spurs with 46.2% from the field and 42.5% from 3. The Spurs for comparison shot 37.2% from the field and 33.3% from downtown. The Spurs did though shoot especially well from the free throw line with 90.2% compared to the Warriors’ 68.4% from the free throw line. Every single player who played in this game for the Warriors had a positive +/- which was definitely a positive. Stephen Curry had a nice game for the Warriors with 32 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Juan Toscano-Anderson and Draymond Green also had good games with a combined 17 points, 15 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Keldon Johnson and Rudy Gay were both bright spots for the Spurs with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and a block and 17 points, 6 rebounds, and an assist. Overall, this was a great game for the Warriors who were able to take over in the 3rd quarter.