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Warriors Score A Win That Defies Description

May 12, 2013  ·  9:30PM

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OAKLAND, Calif. – The crowd let go for good, in appreciation and probably in exhausted release, with about 40 seconds remaining. It was after Draymond Green corralled the defensive rebound of Tim Duncan‘s miss and the final Spurs threat had been denied. They cheered loudly through the final possessions as the clock drained to zero and fans inside Roar-acle Arena realized this actually would happen.

The Warriors really would use limping Stephen Curry … and hobbling David Lee … and have starting bigs Andrew Bogut and Carl Landry pick up three fouls in the first quarter … and need a loudspeaker to reach Andris Biedrins at the end of the bench to use him in the second quarter of the biggest game in at least six seasons … and come back to beat the Spurs 97-87 in overtime Sunday. All while shooting 38 percent.

Pick a description that fits.

Unlikely? For sure, but maybe too understated. That makes it seems like the Warriors had to overcome an obstacle. This was the day when everything went wrong — health, fouls, offense — until it went so right and they had a 2-2 tie in the best-of-seven series that shifts to San Antonio on Wednesday.

Improbable? That works. Golden State grinded enough and the Spurs also shot poorly enough, at 35.5 percent, that the Warriors were able to stay close. But to say it was clear they had that passing gear in them, not a chance. And yet, they went eight down with 4:49 remaining in the fourth to overtime to outscoring the Spurs 13-3 in overtime as San Antonio went 1-for-10 from the field.

Impossible? Too strong. Because this has become the season, as evidenced again Sunday, when nothing is impossible for the Warriors.

“I don’t know a good adjective to use,” Lee said after thinking for a moment. “But it’s definitely satisfying. That’s a good way to put it.”

Satisfying at the very least. The Warriors couldn’t hit a shot in the first half and had 37 points at the break, but didn’t give in to frustration. They knew they were playing hard and with a sharp focus, unlike the lacking effort two days earlier in the Game 3 loss, and that it was just a matter of getting the same good looks to fall. Eleven players had already been used in the patch job by coach Mark Jackson, including Biedrins, who delivered a hold-the-fort three minutes at center in his first appearance since April 12.

The end result was much more than a victory, as if that wasn’t enough at a time like this. The Warriors didn’t get swamped under by adversity, so they grew some more late in what had already been a season of maturation. Curry went from game-time decision (because of the sprained left ankle) to generating all of three shots in the first half to finishing with 22 points while making 5-for-10 from behind the arc and 7-for-15 overall. So, he had survived. Jarrett Jack went from taking local heat for his decision making as the backup point guard to contributing 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and 24 overall. He had endured, too.

“It’s because of who we are,” Jackson said. “This is what these guys have been. This is how hard they’ve worked. This is how they’re committed. It’s a special season for this basketball team and this group of guys, this entire organization and its fan base. We’ve done things that show us when we do ‘em how good we can be. I’m not surprised by anything. One thing I know, this team will not lay down, this team will not quit. It looked dark. It looked awfully dark. But we found a way to get stops and make plays.

“I’ve been talking about this group all year long. I’m just so glad that a national TV audience had an opportunity to see exactly what’s been taking place in this area. Like I said, this is the greatest group of guys I’ve been around. … I [have] a young basketball team that’s got incredible heart. I’m so, so proud of those guys, from the first guy to the last guy. You look at a guy like Biedrins. Called upon, gave us great minutes. I mean, we got an incredible group. People beat up Jarrett Jack. ‘Why is he pounding the ball? Bench him.’ I’m going to go with this group until I’m not here. This is a great group and I’m committed to them, they’re committed to me. Just a big-time win. This is a heck of a series.”

It still is, at 2-2 rather than 3-1 with the Spurs heading home and the Warriors afraid to wonder what else can go wrong because then they would find out. It is a heck of series because only almost everything went bad for Golden State on Sunday. It is because Game 4 actually did happen.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (44) /

Stephen Curry A Game-Time Decision

May 11, 2013  ·  6:40PM

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OAKLAND – Another game, another Stephen Curry ankle injury, another uneasy day of waiting for the latest pivotal medical bulletin.

This has become about hours for the Warriors. Not the time that remains in the season – they still have at least Game 4 at Oracle Arena on Sunday and Game 5 back in San Antonio on Tuesday. But the difference between Curry playing, or at least playing with enough movement for a genuine impact, and Golden State taking the court without its best player could come down to the schedule turn of the playoffs.

“It could,” coach Mark Jackson said Saturday, as the Warriors waited. “But nothing we could do about it now. The clock is ticking. One way or another, we’ll be ready for Game 4.”

A Game 4 that will begin at 12:30. A matinee when the extra hours of the usual night tip off, whether 7:30 p.m. on most occasions or 6 on Sundays, could have helped. All with the knowledge that a loss Sunday will put them behind 3-1 to the tested Spurs.

X-rays on the left ankle, after Curry rolled it with about five minutes left in San Antonio’s Game 3, were negative. He is scheduled for constant treatment, did not practice Saturday and will be re-evaluated Sunday.

The good news for the Warriors is that they have been through this and worse before. Curry sprained the same left ankle – not the one that ruined his 2011-12 and eventually required surgery – in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Nuggets, missed a practice and was a game-time decision after that. And then he played 38 minutes and had 29 points, 11 assists against three turnovers, and six rebounds and made four of seven three-pointers. Jackson insisted afterward the talk of Curry possibly sitting out was not a drama play.

“Once again, we’re back to trusting the process, treatment around the clock and seeing how he is tomorrow,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, we’ve become veterans at this. But he’s a gamer and no matter what, we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Curry was not available during the media session Saturday while getting treatment, but he told a pool reporter that the early start is a “little bit” of a concern. “It’s just a shorter turnaround, literally 36 hours from last night. That’s the main concern compared to having three days like I did last time. Just gotta expedite the treatment and stay as consistent as possible.

“If I can give the team anything, I will play. I feel like if I can get to a point where I’m not hobbling and I can cut how I want to. It doesn’t have to be 100 percent, as long as I can be confident that it won’t do any further damage. I have a feeling I’ll be at that point tomorrow, no problem.”

Asked if he thinks he will play, Curry said: “I think so. You never really know how it’s going to feel the next day. You just keep up with the treatment. Same ‘ol story. I have the same answers. I hope it feels good enough to go tomorrow. But until I wake up and see, you just hope for the best right now.”

Tony Parker skipped Spurs practice at about the same time in San Francisco because of a bruised left calf that he said, according to the San Antonio Express News, had swelled to the size of a baseball. The star of Game 3 on Friday with 32 points, including 25 in the first half, said he will play Sunday.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs / Comments (20) /

The Other Point Guard Shines For Spurs in Game 3

May 11, 2013  ·  2:51AM

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OAKLAND, Calif. – Oh, yeah. The other guard.

Tony Parker – the name is slightly familiar – made his presence known in the Western Conference semifinals Friday night after two games of talk of Stephen Curry as the new force at the point and Klay Thompson as the perfect backcourt running mate.

Big deal.

Parker has been to the playoffs once or twice before and insisted the Curry-Thompson chatter, practically a glow that followed the Warriors from San Antonio back to Oracle Arena, did not inspire him. The other talk, that he listened to.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told Parker to be more aggressive with his shot, and that seemed like a pretty good time for Parker to start caring about a reaction to the first two games and a 1-1 series. Popovich spoke, Parker responded, the Spurs won Game 3, and the Warriors had a new problem on their hand. One of the best point guards in the world is dialed in again.

Parker went from 43 shots and 41.9 percent the first two outings to 25 points in the first half alone while making 11 of his 14 attempts and, finally, to a game-high 32 points in all while going 13-for-23 from the field to lead the Spurs to a 102-92 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series that continues Sunday afternoon at Oracle. More importantly, he went from the Parker the Spurs played to the Parker the Spurs need to offset the play of Curry and Thompson.

“I think sometimes he gets a little bit obsessed about driving it, getting to the rim,” Popovich said. “When he does that, he turns down jumpers and he forgets to play with teammates. But when he’s like tonight, like he’s played most of the season, he’ll stop, shoot the open jumper, he’ll get his share of assists, and that’s what we need him to be. He’s a scoring point guard, but he has to do it with a jump shot as well as a drive. He did that tonight.”

It was a potential turning-point night on several fronts for the backcourts. Cory Joseph delivered solid minutes at backup point guard that proved important with Parker staying fresh while logging 35 minutes, and especially important because Popovich thought Parker got tired two days before in San Antonio. Curry sprained his left ankle again, with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and stayed in, but was clearly limited as the “Curry Ankle Watch” begins anew, with no immediate prognosis after the game and an update expected at practice Saturday.

Parker, though, was the most significant development of all.

“I was just trying to be aggressive, watch film of the first two games,” he said. “They always try to push me left. That’s the shot they were giving me. In warmups, that was almost the only shot I practiced, going left. Make sure I knocked down that shot. Once I make that shot, it opens up everything. I was just determined to make sure I take good shots and be aggressive the whole game.”

Thompson said Parker was doing the same thing as before, “just taking shots at a higher rate.” Which was partly true. More shots, yes, but also a different attitude going in, instructed by Popovich more than inspired by some perceived slight against the Curry-Thompson limelight.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs / Comments (27) /

Mark Jackson: A Man On A Mission

May 10, 2013  ·  5:31PM

OAKLAND – This goes back about 3 ½ months, to when coach Mark Jackson said of his Warriors, “This is a team I believe God has his hands all over.”

And that was before, you know, everything: Stephen Curry going from braces on both ankles and a game-time decision in the first round to a playoff star, the Warriors going from losing All-Star David Lee to winning five of the next seven, Andrew Bogut going from an ankle injury so maddening that he began to consider the possibility of retirement to resuming his starting role, the entire roster going from little postseason experience to beating the favored Nuggets and now in a 1-1 Western Conference semifinals against the favored Spurs heading into Game 3 tonight inside rocking Oracle Arena.

Jackson, naturally, does not alter his statement from late January that the Warriors have higher powers at their back. He is not one in general to back away from bold comments, he believes deeply as a man of faith and a pastor at a Southern California church, and now it is mid May and his team continues to do the improbable. Backing off is the last thing that would happen.

“I’m a man of faith,” Jackson said. “I believe in God. Some folks may say God doesn’t care about basketball. My Bible tells me He cares about everything that has to do with me. This team is tied together. I’ve said it before. Spiritually, this team is absolutely tied together. There’s a call on these guys’ lives. I said from Day 1 in my press conference, if I won games and didn’t change lives I’d be a failure. If I won a championship and guys left here the same I’d be a failure. It’s more important to me to leave here leaving these guys better husbands, better fathers, better teammates, better players, better men. That’s what it’s all about, and we’ve done that. With that, the victories will come.”

He said he believed right away that the belief includes knowing the Warriors would become winners “when I had no business believing it,” which is, which is some long-range vision. He couldn’t have seen this coming. The Warriors did not look anything like the current model when owner Joe Lacob made Jackson the surprising and gutsy hire in June 2011 as a coach without any previous experience on the bench, in the NBA or college, as an assistant or in the No. 1 chair. Seven of the top nine players – everyone except Curry and Lee – weren’t on the roster at the time. Bob Myers hadn’t yet made the quick ascension from front-office newcomer, with any team, to general manager.

“We all make mistakes,” Jackson said. “But at the end of the day, I’m going to be led by God and there were jobs I would not have taken if they were offered to me. I believed in my heart that this was the job for me and this was the group of men, the group owners, the group of management people and this was the time. Some people don’t think that’s cool. Some people don’t believe that. I have nothing against them. I’m going to walk this walk and my Bible tells me the steps of a good man are ordered by God. So I believe that my steps are ordered. I’m just following orders.”

We all make mistakes.

Jackson does not hide from his most public of setbacks, an affair of nearly one year that became public when the woman and one of her acquaintances blackmailed Jackson to keep the relationship quiet. The coach and the team contacted the FBI, Jackson cooperated with the investigation, and the matter became open conversation.

Hide from it? Jackson said he brought the incident up to players himself. He turned it into basketball and the Warriors.

“That I’m not going to allow one moment to identify who I am,” he said. “We may lose a game, we may lose a quarter, we may lose a season. But at the end of the day, I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to stop the call on my life and I’m not going to quit doing God’s work. Ultimately it’s get back up on the horse and pick up where you left off and don’t make the mistake again.”

Which, in an outcome that has not been lost on the coach, is exactly what the Warriors have done. This team that he believes God has his hands all over.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs / Comments (30) /

Thompson Gives Spurs A Dilemma

May 9, 2013  ·  8:02PM

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SAN ANTONIO – First it was Stephen Curry practically setting fire to the AT&T Center in Game 1 with his 44 points. Then along came Klay Thompson with his 34 in Game 2.

“I thought it was polite of them to at least take turns and not both be on fire on the same night,” cracked San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Good one-liner, but a real problem for San Antonio. As the series shifts to Oakland for the next two games, it seems the Spurs are either a defender short or woefully lacking enough firepower to keep up with the Golden State Warriors’ back court.

“I was just trying to do my best to keep up with Steph,” Thompson said. “I’ve seen him do it enough times, so I thought I’d try to see if I could keep up.”

He hardly could have anticipated a 29-point first half, setting a franchise record for a playoff game with eight buckets from behind the arc and the first double-double of his career with 14 rebounds. And let’s not forget the physical, smothering defense that he used all night to throw a wet blanket on Tony Parker.

For Thompson, there was only one thing worse than playing a part in the grand collapse of the Warriors in Game 1. That was not playing a part, which was his burden because he had fouled out and had to watch from the bench.

So, while the rest of his teammates tried to put on a happy face and act unfazed by the double-overtime loss, Thompson wore his disappointment as a hair shirt. He let it irritate him, bother him and prod him on.

“It was tough losing Game 1, because I felt like I was barely out there due to foul trouble, even I did play 32 minutes,” Thompson said. “Watching from the bench is one of the hardest things to do. But I learned from it and I think I showed I learned from it.”

The one he was most proud to show his lessons learned to was his father, ex-NBA star Mychal Thompson, who constants tell him to avoid cheap fouls.

“My dad is my biggest critic,” Thompson said. “Every game he tells me to stay out of foul trouble, so I probably gave him a hemorrhage the other night. I thought I did a good job of not making dumb fouls like I did in Game 1 and I just tried to play hard.”

If Thompson had played any harder, he’d have loosened the floorboards in the court. He made every kind of shot from every spot and every angle imaginable and he was a wrecking ball on defense. He not only disrupted Parker as the initiator of the Spurs offense, but also took turns on wing men Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard. Toss in those 14 rebounds and it was enough to make you shake your head.

“Your stat line,” Curry marveled to his buddy, “is amazing.”

It was the kind of prolific game that his team needed to pull the series into a 1-1 tie, the kind of redemptive effort that Thompson needed personally to feel good about himself again and the kind of display that will have the Spurs scrambling for a solution by Game 3.

Curry blowing up one night, Thompson leaving a mushroom cloud the next.

“I have the greatest shooting backcourt that’s ever played the game,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. “Call my bluff.”

The Spurs might not know how.  That’s their dilemma.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (39) /

Injuries Had Warriors’ Bogut Once Considering Retirement

May 9, 2013  ·  7:52PM

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OAKLAND – Warriors center Andrew Bogut was so frustrated around midseason over the lack of progress from a maddening ankle injury that he began to contemplate having to retire, he told NBA.com on Thursday. That seems long ago now that his successful recovery continued to play a major role in the improbable playoff heights for Golden State.

Bogut said he “was getting close” to having to give it serious consideration, but that he was not at the point of having to make a decision. The plan, he said, was to try and finish this season on an encouraging note, work during the summer to return to peak condition and aim for a healthy 2013-14. If that went bad, all options would have been on the table.

“I didn’t get to that point,” he said before the Warriors practiced in advance of Game 3 of the second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at Oracle Arena, “But it was definitely [something] I started to think about. I never got to a point where I thought, ‘This is it. I’m done.’ But I thought, ‘If this goes on for a year or two, there’s definitely a chance that I think about that.’

“I was really bad. The physical part of it is one thing, but the mental part of it’s the other. It was a tough time in my career. You always just start questioning yourself, and whenever you do that as an athlete, I think it’s probably not a great thing. When is this going to subside? When am I going to feel better? Am I going to be back to the same level I was playing at before the injury? How long is it going to take? Why is it taking so long? [I am] medically cleared to play, but am I being soft? Am I not going hard enough? Am I going too hard? Too many questions in your mind. I was frustrated.”

Asked if he ever thought his career could seriously be in jeopardy, Bogut told NBA.com, “I never got to that point, but I was starting to get there. [I] come back at the start of the season and it doesn’t respond well, [so] I had to take three months off. It just becomes monotonous doing the same rehab every day and not seeing results. I’m doing the same thing every day. People don’t know, practice is at 11 [a.m.] and I am in here at 8:30 doing my rehab for 2 ½ hours and strength and conditioning and conditioning and getting my shots up, getting my rhythm and seeing no results — I was real frustrated.

“The goal was to try and get to the summer and then work on my body and see how it is next season. But, obviously, now I’m starting to feel much better. My body’s starting to respond a little bit better. It’s a positive sign. My goal was in the playoffs to no matter have a good playoff campaign and kind of forget about the season. It’s kind of worked so far.”

Yeah. Kind of.

Bogut, after 24.6 minutes in 32 games during the regular season, is at 29 minutes in the first eight postseason games — the six in the first-round victory over the Denver Nuggets and the first two of the Western Conference semifinals now tied 1-1 against the Spurs. Even though clearly less than 100 percent – Bogut and coach Mark Jackson won’t estimate how close Bogut is to full strength – he is the defensive presence Golden State long desired, a facilitator for the offense being led by perimeter players and a vocal leader. The playoffs have been his response to anyone who questioned the trade for Monta Ellis in March 2012.

“I think he likes the fact of winning and finally feeling good, physically,” Jackson said. “I think at the end of the day, no matter who you’re talking to, with the question marks were around the trade and all that, he has to have a chip showing folks it made sense. It’s well-deserved for him and great to see because if we had to do it all over again, it was unanimous.”

Jackson was asked about the trade Thursday, in the context that moving Ellis created a clear path for Klay Thompson to blossom at shooting guard along with adding Bogut.

“It helped change the culture,” Jackson said. “Obviously, it was easier to pull the trigger because we knew what we had in Klay and it was time for him to be a starting two-guard. And he does everything right.”

How did the deal change the culture?

Jackson paused four seconds.

“It helped change the culture,” he finally said.

Anything specific?

“You know.”

He meant addition by subtracting Ellis. Jackson said it without saying it.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (37) /

Hot List: Top 10 Unrestricted Free Agents

May 9, 2013  ·  11:07AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Only eight teams remain in the playoffs, meaning the fans of 22 other teams have turned much of their attention to the offseason and the free-agent summer of 2013 in particular.

We will encounter a familiar name there, one Dwight David Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers, who along with Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, will be at the center of all things come July 1 (when free agency kicks off in all of its usual craziness).

There are a dozen teams, most notably Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Utah, Cleveland, New Orleans, Detroit, Charlotte and Washington, with the cash to spend and the flexibility to significantly tweak, and, in some cases, totally remake their rosters. All these teams need is a free agent willing to give them a chance to make the proper sales pitch.

For the top-level free agents — and this summer that list it two truly elite players deep, Howard and Paul — the list of potential suitors will be exclusive. Only those franchises with championship potential need bother.

But that’s what makes the summer, the scramble by a large number of teams for the same small group of big-time free agents. We have more than seven weeks to before free agency goes into complete crazy mode, but why wait until then to get the party started?

The full list of this summer’s available names is around, as always, courtesy of our Free Agent Tracker. And if you’re looking for the top restricted free-agent picks, they’re right here.

Here are our top 10 unrestricted free agents for the summer of 2013 …

Dwight Howard, C, Los Angeles Lakers

Status on July 1: Unrestricted free agent
What he’s selling: A three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year and five-time rebounding champ, Howard is a seven-time All-Star and, when healthy, the NBA’s most dominant big man. When your down year sees you lead the league in rebounding and still help power the Lakers to a playoff spot in an absolute train wreck of a season, you’re worth every penny a team throws at you.
What he’s not saying: He still a putrid free throw shooter and has been known to struggle with decision-making.
What he’s worth: A max contract, worth approximately $118 million over five years.
Who might be buying: The Lakers have no choice but to beg him to stay, with Kobe Bryant on the mend from Achilles surgery and no one else on the roster capable of carrying the mantle as face of the franchise. Houston, Atlanta and Dallas will launch all-out assaults to sway him.
Likely landing spot(s): Lakers. They can offer $30 million more than anyone else. Howard will have a hard time walking away from that kind of cash.

Chris Paul, PG, Los Angeles Clippers

Status on July 1: Unrestricted free agent
What he’s selling: A six-time All-Star and culture-changer (see Clippers before and after his arrival), Paul is the best in the business at his position, a gold medal winner and an All-Star Game MVP. Toss in his work as a pitch man (Cliff Paul comes with the package) and it’s easy to see why he’s one of the most recognizable players in the game today.
What he’s not saying: He has to stay healthy. He’s not getting any younger and he has to get to winning in the postseason, the one glaring hole on his so-far sparkling NBA resume.
What he’s worth: A max contract, worth approximately $108 million over five years.
Who might be buying: The Clippers are desperate to hold on to him. But they have coaching issues to resolve before that can happen. Houston, Atlanta, Dallas will all make pitches in hopes of prying Paul away.
Likely landing spots: Clippers … depending on what happens with Vinny Del Negro. Like Howard, Paul would have to walk away from extra cash if he decides to go elsewhere. But he’s hungry for a title, wherever he goes.

Josh Smith, F, Atlanta Hawks

Status on July 1: Unrestricted free agent
What he’s selling: An absolute game-changer when he’s focused, Smith makes plays only a few players in the league are capable of on a given night. For all the drama and criticism thrown his way, he helped power the Hawks to six straight playoff appearances.
What he’s not saying: His shot selection and motor remain issues. After nine years in Atlanta, his next spot needs to be an ideal fit, because this is likely Smith’s last big deal. He has to make sure it’s in a place where he can thrive.
What he’s worth: A max contract of approximately $95 million over five years doesn’t fit here, not from the only team (the Hawks) that can offer him that much. But a deal worth approximately $75 million to $85 million over five years is doable. Smith turned down a $47 million extension offer from the Hawks, so he’s obviously looking for a starting salary of $16 million-plus.
Who might be buying: The Hawks say they are interested in keeping Smith, at the right price, of course. Houston, Boston, Phoenix, New Orleans, Philadelphia and the Lakers will all investigate this situation.
Likely landing spots: Houston is the frontrunner and is the ideal fit and a place Smith would be comfortable. (more…)

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Posted in Free Agency 2013 / Comments (256) /

Warriors’ Defense Shoots Lights Out, Too

May 9, 2013  ·  2:36AM

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SAN ANTONIO – This is not merely about Stephen Curry looking like the deadeye love child of Annie Oakley and William Tell one night and Klay Thompson turning into a heat-seeking missile the next.

It’s about shooting, yes, because it’s what they do. Shooting from the gaps and shooting over outstretched arms. Shooting a running, one-footed 3-pointer with the dour expression of an English butler on your face and shooting a fallaway heave in front of the opponents’ bench to beat the third quarter horn. Shooting late in the shot clock to bail out a possession gone wrong and shooting early in the shot clock because, well, you just feel like it.

It’s also about pressuring the ball out front, squeezing the penetrators into the lane, cutting off the paths on the baseline and protecting the rim as if it were the Holy Grail.

While all of the postgame highlights and most of the headlines about their first victory in San Antonio since the Mexican flag flew over Texas will concentrate on Thompson’s deep ball barrage, the Warriors got this Western Conference semifinal series to 1-1 because they played ferocious, high-energy, unforgiving defense.

It’s like finding out that Kate Upton can cook, too.

“Our shooters, Steph and Klay, are amazing,” said center Andrew Bogut, “but we like to think our defense is consistent.”

It consistently chased Spurs point guard Tony Parker. When Thompson wasn’t pushing the limits of credulity with his 8-for-9 shooting from behind the arc and his ridiculous 29-point first half, he was the one sinking his teeth into Parker.

“I told him at halftime, that is in the discussion of one of the greatest halves ever,” said Golden State coach Mark Jackson. “Not only what he did offensively, but what he did defensively. If you slow it down and see the multiple plays and the attention to detail defensively, he is playing a future Hall of Famer and he’s making him work for everything.”

That’s been the difference in the first two games so far — the Spurs keep looking like they’re laboring for everything on offense and the Warriors might as well be cruising the court on roller skates. (more…)

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (41) /

Is Curry Time An Issue For Warriors?

May 8, 2013  ·  9:46AM

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SAN ANTONIO — Like the rest of them, Stephen Curry said it was a learning experience.

So is dropping an anvil on your toe, but just because you claim it won’t happen again doesn’t stop you from hopping around on one foot.

If the Warriors are truly going to take the next step forward in their education and development, they will have to stop letting leads slip like fistfuls of jelly through their fingers and to learn about Curry himself — who he is and how his remarkable shooting and scoring talents can best be most effectively used.

While Carmelo Anthony’s shoulder, the Bulls’ hard noses and the above-the-rest offensive capabilities of LeBron James and Kevin Durant are headlines, the splendid splinter Curry has been the transcendent story of these playoffs. He’s the reason to stay up late, the reason to keep hitting “reverse” on the DVR just so you can re-watch another ridiculous 3-pointer and try to figure out how he did that.

Curry’s 44-point, 11-assist virtuoso effort in Game 1 seemed to push at the limit of what is possible only because he hasn’t played his next game. Yet at the end of the double-overtime classic, the numbers that mattered were 129-127 — the final score in favor of the Spurs and the 57 minutes and 56 seconds that he logged in a 58-minute game.

“We’re not gonna get discouraged at all,” Curry said. “It’s not going to be a depressed locker room. We’re excited about how we played considering the finish and looking forward to (Game 2).”

But before the Warriors fly hungrily toward the opening tip and try to pounce with another fireball of youth and energy at the start, there has to be more consideration in planning for the finish.

It is tempting (and probably necessary) to milk every last drop they can out of Curry in order to defeat a team as talented, deep and experienced as the Spurs. But as much as Curry lit the fuse to the Warriors’ explosive opening-game performance, he was unable to deliver when they needed him to close out the game. (more…)

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (13) /

Duncan Won’t Stomach Sitting In Game 2

May 7, 2013  ·  8:26PM

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SAN ANTONIO – One of the most amazing parts of a stunning comeback by the Spurs in Game 1 against the Warriors Monday night was that they did it without their foundational player, who was stricken by a severe intestinal illness.

But Tim Duncan said he’s already feeling much better and hopes to go the distance in Game 2 on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center (9:30 ET, TNT).

“Rough night last night, getting over this sickness,” Duncan said Tuesday. “It kind of caught up to me later in the game. But probably the best thing for the team was me was going out.

“I couldn’t (play) at that point. I wanted to, but I was hurting us out there. I couldn’t move. It was the right thing to do for me to get out of there. I knew I’d have some difficulty. I just didn’t think it would be at that level.”

Duncan gutted out 34 minutes, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds before Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made the command decision to remove him from the game. The Warriors upped their lead to 104-88 soon after he left with 4:31 remaining in the fourth quarter and headed to the locker room. That was precisely the time when San Antonio’s improbable rally began.

Duncan’s teammates said they were unaware that the 37-year-old was ailing through the first two quarters of the game. But Manu Ginobili said the problem became evident in the second half.

“I realized in a timeout, where his eyes were lost and he couldn’t raise his head. Pop was talking to him and he was not looking. He was staring at the floor.”

“It became pretty apparent that he wasn’t going to tell me the truth anymore, so I had to pull the plug myself,” Popovich said. “He’s a competitor and he didn’t want to come off the floor.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, teams in NBA playoff history had been 0-392 when trailing by 16 or more points with four minutes or less left in the game.

However, Duncan’s teammates rallied in his absence, playing flawlessly down the stretch, shooting 6-for-6 from the field and ending with Danny Green’s 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.

Duncan came back onto the court for the last six seconds of the first overtime and the final second of the second overtime. He spent the rest of the time in the Spurs’ training room, suffering physically and mentally.

“It was unbelievable,” Duncan said. “I was in the locker room watching it, and I see us getting closer and closer. I debated even coming back out there. Whatever superstition it might be, I wanted to stay right where I was. It felt bad coming out there and they get a lead again.

“It was great just to see the guys and everything going the way we wanted to go. A lot of credit to Golden State; they were unbelievable. Steph Curry put on a show out there. But we stuck with it and used every minute that we had. It was just an unbelievable game to be a part of.”

The 14-time All-Star hopes to be part of all of Game 2.

“Another day and a half, I hope to have it out of my system,” he said.”

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (11) /

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