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That one didn't go the way supporters of the Silver and Black would have liked it to. No perfect season at home, no stopping of the Warriors historic run, no Timmy, just no fun at all.
The Spurs started off strong on the defensive end and held Golden State to just 35 first half points, limiting the Warriors to13-of-37 from the field. The only problem was that the good guys also put up just 35 points, hitting only 30% of their attempts.
The Spurs started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 43-37 lead before the Warriors responded with a 12-0 run of their own and looked like they may take the game over. But LaMarcus Aldridge got a couple of buckets and a trip to the line and David West completed an and-one to stop the momentum.
Stephen Curry, who finished with 37 points on 22 shots (the Warriors only had three players score in double figures), was completely brilliant in the third, scoring 16 of Golden State's 27 points in the quarter, while the Spurs continued to miss everything beyond the arc, going 2-for-15 before Kevin Martin hit one late in the period to make it a 62-61 advantage for the Warriors going into the final frame.
Popovich then of course inserted Boban Marjanovic for the first time all game and played him for the first six minutes and played Kevin Martin for the entire fourth quarter. I'm not sure that Pop was putting it all out there, you know? The Warriors opened up an 11-point lead at one point and won fairly easily in the Alamo City.
It's not all bad, holding the Warriors to 92 points on 44% shooting is a good sign and the Spurs were unusually awful from deep, finishing 3-for-17. Kawhi Leonard finished with quite the line, 20-13-5-2-3, but struggled from the field, missing fifteen of his first twenty shots before making his final two.
The Spurs gave it a very solid effort but fell short as they failed to contain the Curry explosion. Hopefully they'll get another shot at the Warriors in May with Boris Diaw in tow. Heads up Spurs fans, Bobo holds the key.
Your Spurs fall to 65-15 and have lost three games in a row for the first time this season.
Up Next:
The Spurs finish up their regular-season home-schedule with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and can tie the 1985-86 Celtics as the only teams to finish 40-1 at home, on Tuesday and play Number 82 at Dallas on Wednesday night. Then the real fun begins this weekend.