Golden State Warriors Take Game 2 With A 116-101 Win Over San Antonio Spurs
Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant Combine For 63 Pointsf
San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili tries to get around David West of the Golden State Warriors at The Oracle in Oakland, Calif. Publicity Agents photo art by T. Ray Harvey. April 16, 2018.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Oakland, Calif. —
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said his team had to “play with more attitude” in Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors.
They did. But only for the first 24 minutes and four minutes to start the second half.
The Warriors, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs, are known to produce a greater amount of energy at one special moment in the game. And that they did, too.
The Warriors, probably the best third-quarter team in the league, down 53-47 at halftime, outscored the Spurs 33-22 in the third frame on their way to a 116 -101 victory to go up 2-0 in the series.
Klay Thompson kept up his scoring barrage by knocking down 31 points and dishing out five assists in over 39 minutes of floor time.
He also made 5 of 8 shots from behind the 3-point line. Thompson averaged 29.0 points in the first two games for Warriors. Thompson missed missed four of his five shots, but rebounded to make 10 the last 14.
“We’ll, it doesn’t matter if I make five in a row or miss five in a row,” Thompson said. “I’m still going to have the same mentality the next time down the road. That’s be aggressive and make a good play. It’s never about making or missing shots.”
Kevin Durant had 32 points, six rebounds, six assists, and one blocked shot while Andre Iguodala added 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and one steal at the point guard position. Stephen Curry has already been declared out until the second round of the playoffs.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. He also made all of his 12 attempts from the free-throw line. Patty Mills contributed 21 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
The Warriors committed 11 turnovers in the first half and gave up eight steals in the first half. But They somehow caught on to head coach Steve Kerr’s insistence that they must have “ball security” to pull out the victory.
“I thought the Spurs did a great job of countering the way we defended in Game 1 and they beat us on a lot of plays,” Kerr said. “We’re going to have to reevaluate how we’re going to guard them.”
Golden State’s biggest lead of the game came on a 3-point shot by Quinn Cook to make the score 116-97 with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter. Warriors only mishandled the basketball four times in the second half and made 15 of 31 shots beyond the arc.
“Both teams are going to make mistakes here and there and that’s fine,” Popovich said. “But the ball has to go in the basket. That’s the difference in the ball game.”
The Warriors own nine consecutive Game 2 victories, all at the Oracle. Golden State also has 11 straight home-playoff victories, the longest home-winning streak in franchise postseason history.
Golden State have beating the Spurs 10 0f the last 11 meetings, regular season and playoffs, including six-straight victories at the Oracle.
The series shift to San Antonio for Game 3 and 4.
"If we can get them off their game and make them feel uncomfortable in that way, I think that's what we've got to do," Mills said of playing the Warriors. "We need to be consistent in that for the majority of 48 minutes. And that's hard to do."
By T. Ray Harvey | PA Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist
Twitter: Tony Ray Harvey @PublicityAgents
T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.
Journalism Today
Journalism Tomorrow
Journalism Forever
