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The Spurs started their annual rodeo road trip with a tenuous victory over the Golden State Warriors this evening at the Oracle. Although we got the W, this game unfolded in a more nerve-wracking manner than even I expected. Instead of allowing an inferior team to hang around for 4 quarters, we actually had to claw our way out of a 12 point 4th quarter deficit to force overtime and eventually get the win.

Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker made their presence felt tonight, scoring 32, 32, and 23 points, respectively. They also did an excellent job earning trips to the charity stripe: Of the 34 FTA we took, one of the big three took 32 of them. Our ability to draw contact and get to the line bailed out our poor outside shooting: We went a measly 3-13 from beyond the arc. What is actually encouraging about that statistic is that we only took 13 3-point shots. Yes, we shot under 25% from the perimeter, but better to rack up such a low percentage on only 13 attempts instead of, say, 23 (the number of 3-point attempts we took against the Lakers).

The state of our outside shooting really isn’t my issue. I am far more concerned about the 20 turnovers we committed over the course of the game. Against a team like the Warriors, who struggle to produce high-percentage shots in halfcourt situations, failing to protect the ball is a surefire way to keep a game close (or, in this instance, require a rally and barely send the game to overtime). I won’t harp on it further because ball protection is one of our strong suits, but teams more focused and efficient than GS (most teams) would have made the Spurs pay more dearly for their sloppy decision making.

Despite being reasonably poised during the overtime period, I had a couple of very concrete tactical issues I wanted to address. With around 30 seconds left the Warriors began intentionally sending us to the line. After playing a brief game of keep away they fouled Roger Mason, who did not immediately head to the line because GS had a foul to give. On the ensuing possession, Mason inbounded the ball to Parker, who also was fouled immediately.

Why Mason was inbounding the ball to Parker and not the other way around is unclear to me. I know this is nitpicky (particularly so, given that Parker made both of his free throws) but Parker is not a great free throw shooter. Yes, his FT% has risen significantly this season but in late game scenarios he has never shown me the ability to knock’em down consistently. Mason and Ginobili have. My concerns about this were legitimated when Parker was fouled on our next possession and proceeded to miss both shots.

The announcers did their fair share of complaining about the late 4th quarter foul that sent Ginobili to the line and the game to OT. But honestly, after the refs called a ticky-tack 6th foul on Tim Duncan early in overtime while he battled for position with Ronny Turiaf, I felt the poor refereeing had claimed victims on both sides.

Speaking of Turiaf, the man did a better job defending Tim than I expected. Duncan had 32 points and 15 rebounds so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, but for what it is worth Turiaf’s defensive effort and savvy (4 blocks, 2 steals) impressed me.

While we’re on the subject of how the Warriors played, I would like to say unequivocally that I am glad we did not pickup Corey Maggette. During the offseason I was high on the idea of signing Maggette, believing his presence would solidify our place in the upper eschelon of NBA teams. But after having watched him this season (I catch more Warriors games than I ever have Clippers games), I am convinced he is too ball dominant and not a strong enough jump shooter to have functioned successfully in our offensive scheme.

I am officially abolishing the practice of declaring that any given game is the game in which “Ginobili has arrived.” He got back a few games ago and hasn’t left since. Any difficulties he faces over the rest of the season are post-arrival slumps, not manifestations of his post-injury struggles. At this point he seems to have regained his confidence and explosiveness. His future successes and shortcomings will be interpreted in terms of the consistently high level of play he has shown since our most recent victory over the Utah Jazz.

The Spurs have a tough back-to-back assignment tomorrow evening, as we head to Denver where we will face (I can’t believe I’m typing this) a confident and focused Nuggets squad. The Nuggets are currently in 3rd in the West, 2 games back of San Antonio. This is our third and last meeting of the season (we split the first two) so a victory here could be crucial if a tiebreaker is needed to determine playoff placement.