San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

The Spurs led 36-24 after the first quarter, riding the spark of Rudy Gay (14 points) and Avery Bradley (10 points). The lead would increase by halftime, 69-52, as the Warriors seemed nonchalant and surprisingly unconcerned. While Golden State (especially Kevin Durant) would eventually make haste and realize the sand leaving the hourglass on their season, it would be too late as the Spurs led 95-83 into the final period. Davis Bertans knocked down consecutive three-pointers, followed by Dejounte Murray showing promise from long range due to defensive slack by the Warriors. The question of "Why did it take so long?" would accompany Steph Curry's wild display of long range crescendos, but Kawhi Leonard made some ballsy shots over Kevin Durant in response. 117, 101: San Antonio. Durant would take the challenge, albeit too late, and cut the lead to five showing his scoring repertoire, causing a chill over the crowd that they'd rather have done without. Then Leonard

"The Warriors running out of time here..."-Kevin Harlan Kawhi Leonard scored the first twelve points for the Spurs, but the Warriors held a 30-27 lead after one quarter and then erupted toward a 69-54 advantage at halftime, capped off by Curry beating the buzzer after the official replay review. The Spurs were in trouble, especially with Patty Mills taken out of the game after a 1-8 flurry, in danger of going back home 2-2, their hard work thus far all but nixed from the reality ahead. What wound up happening silenced the Oakland faithful and left the Warriors bowing heads in disbelief and exhaustion, having lost two chances at home to take over this series. The most taxing concern was the rebounding disavantage, so Coach Pop put Joakim Noah back into the game to start the final two quarters and kept him there, instantly paying dividends as Golden State went cold. Noah finished with 14 rebounds and 6 points, with the block of the game on Cousins that led to a dagger b

Pau Gasol's 3PT dagger did in the Warriors tonight. The Warriors came out hot early, empowered by the road victory in Texas three nights ago. Steph Curry absolutely torched his defender, Avery Bradley, early with 3PT death-strokes. Avery got his own licks in, dropping two in the corner and then Kawhi Leonard matched it. Dejounte Murray added on the pressure, a 13-5 run for a 31-30 lead after the first quarter despite Kawhi drawing two fouls. It became clear there was a mini war on the baseline between Pau Gasol and Demarcus Cousins, so Coach Popovich subbed out Noah for the Spaniard, a solid move that gave the Spurs a 62-60 halftime advantage. Patty Mills engaged in his own mini-shootout with Curry, each player hitting bombs but then both going cold and taking a blow on the bench. Next up? The classic rivalry between Durant and Leonard, each player dropping 3's on the other. Pau Gasol threw a pass to Leonard on the fast break for the reverse alley oop throw-down and then

Curry burned the Spurs with 36 points. Steph Curry came out firing in Game 2 and it paid off in the end, as the Warriors made several impressive shots from long range to space out a lead and eventually hold off a Spurs rally. Chef Curry made six 3PTers and dished 7 assists in this tough victory on the road, as Klay Thompson had a stellar 25 points punishing the Spurs from long range in the final minutes of regulation. Crucial turnovers and sloppy execution overall felled the Spurs here, a total of 11 cough-ups. Kawhi Leonard had another strong start, but went cold in the second half for 13-26 overall, a not-so-good 5/12 from long range. Dejounte Murray got going in the fourth quarter, giving the Spurs a small lead after the score was 91-all but it was not to last, finishing with 22 points and 7 assists. Iman Shumpert danced on Klay Thompson as the Spurs looked better in the third quarter, but couldn't maintain it with 20 points on four 3PTers. Patty Mills also went 5-12 fro

Kevin Durant scored just 16 points, going 3-7 from 3PT range. The western conference finals kicked off tonight to the tune of a cold shooting performance by the Warriors, as the Spurs went up 20-5. The Warriors eventually found their mojo, swiping the lead and on fire from long range. Leonard and Mills fired back, closing the quarter 32-28. Avery Bradley opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, giving the Spurs a ten-point lead at 38-28. Before long, the story became Kawhi Leonard's perfect shooting display as he boldly dashed to the rim and notched tough points. Iman Shumpert would have a nice night, splashing in daggers from deep to give the Spurs a 72-59 lead at the half, the Spurs going 69% from the field. Steph Curry kept firing, but nothing fell for him in a painful showing. Meanwhile, Shump nailed five then six threes, pushing the lead to sixteen. Demarcus Cousins spear-headed the opposition in the second half, but got knocked to the floor by Pau Gasol with a

All too familiar, Harden & Leonard squared off. The Rockets looked good early in this series, especially in Game 2 which would wind up being the one that got away and all but ended Houston's momentum. Game 1 was filled with foul trouble for Kawhi Leonard, but Skal Labissiere took up the mantle and had himself a clutch performance - his first in the post season - dominating this game with 26 points and especially five 3PTers, showcasing nice range for a big man. It was 71-77 heading into the fourth quarter, after Austin Rivers got hot off the bench. Avery Bradley dished the ball to Gay for the easy dunk and then Joakim Noah blocked James Harden at the basket. Bradley swiped the ball free toward Kawhi Leonard for the four-point play on the wing. Clint Capela dunked it home, but Harden missed a 3PT shot and Shumpert closed it out at the free throw line, as the Spurs won 103-107. Rudy Gay had 17 points, Leonard had 16 with 5 steals. Patty Mills scored 15, Shump 10, Gasol n

After three blowouts, Jokic's Nuggets couldn't survive Game 4. This opening series was marked by interior dominance by the Spurs, as they won Game 1 97-87 and held the high-scoring Denver Nuggets under 100 points in two out of four games. Kawhi Leonard made it look too easy with 30 points on 12-17 shooting with 5 steals. Skal Labissiere had 13 points and 8 rebounds; Avery Bradley gave 12 points; Joakim Noah had 13 rebounds with 8 points. For Denver, Nikola Jokic had 17 points but fouled out with 10 rebounds. Both Jamaal Murray and Will Barton struggled to shoot well, going 4-18. Game 2 saw the Nuggets shooting better, but falling short 105-120 on the road. Will Barton had 19 points, but Murray went just 1-6. Jokic even struggled with just 14 points and 12 rebounds. As a team, Denver cough the ball up 17 times. Patty Mills scored 20 points and 7 assists, five threes, and Rudy Gay had 15 points with 7 rebounds. Avery Bradley and Kawhi Leonard combined for 28 points. Noah l