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Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs Golden State Warriors, Game 6

The San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors face off in the series' last game in Oakland. Will the Spurs step on the Warriors' collective throats to win the series?

Jed Jacobsohn

San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors

Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
May 16, 2013, 9:30 PM Spurs Time
TV: ESPN - RADIO: 1200 AM WOAI

The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors face of in Game 6 of their Western Conference Semifinals series. The Spurs took Game 5 on their home floor in a rout, 109-91, where, despite All-Rookie First Teamer Harrison Barnes' best efforts, the Silver and Black limited the Warriors' starting backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to a dismal 6-22 night. Tony Parker put up 25 points and handed out 10 assists, and although veterans Tim Duncan (who tied Wilt Chamberlain's record for second most career playoff double-doubles) and Manu Ginobili had their struggles, starting wings Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard picked up the slack.

Going forward, the Spurs now have control of the series. Should they beat the Warriors in Oakland, they advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in consecutive seasons since 2007-2008 (one of which ended up as a Finals run). In effect, their game plan of simply executing on offense and sharing the rock while shutting down Curry and Thompson was best executed in Game 5. The Spurs struggled in the first two games because they could not limit the Super Splash Brothers, while they surrendered Game 4 because they could not get the ball into the hoop.

That said, the team should come up with a sense of urgency. Allowing Golden State to take Game 6, while not catastrophic, would give the younger, more athletic team momentum, as well as increasing the wear and tear on the Spurs, particularly the Big 3. If Gregg Popovich's squad gets the win on the road, they then await who wins between the Grizzlies and Thunder.

Lineups

Starters
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Danny Green
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Tiago Splitter

Key Bench Players
Manu Ginobili
Boris Diaw
Cory Joseph

Head Coach
Gregg Popovich

Lineups

Starters
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Harrison Barnes
PF: Carl Landry
C: Andrew Bogut

Key Bench Players
Jarrett Jack
Draymond Green
Festus Ezeli


Head Coach

Mark Jackson

Warriors perspective can be found here: Golden State of Mind

Game Prediction: Spurs by 5 in a nail-biter. Parker hits the biggest shot of the 4th.

As always Tony must dominate Fisher, and NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate.