El Conclusion: San Antonio Spurs 111, Golden State Warriors 90

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Golden State Warriors 90 Final
Recap | Box Score		 111 San Antonio Spurs
Boris Diaw, PF 33 MIN | 3-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +12

With the Warriors playing a smaller lineup, Boris was the go-to power forward until the Spurs went small in the second half.

Tim Duncan, PF 20 MIN | 7-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 15 PTS | +7

Dominated inside early with the Warriors missing Andrew Bogut and limiting Jermaine O’Neal to under five minutes. His offensive load lessened in the second half as the Spurs guards got to the rim at will. Then Duncan focused mainly on the defensive end.
Kawhi Leonard, SF 29 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +15

Four steals on the evening, a couple of them leading to fast breaks. Klay Thompson scored 15 points on the night on eight shots, but with so many other guys out for Golden State, you would’ve expected Thompson to shoulder more of the scoring load. I guess we can credit Kawhi for that a bit.
Tony Parker, PG 28 MIN | 7-13 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 18 PTS | +16

Scored reasonably well, assisted just fine. Ho-hum, 18 and 8.
Danny Green, SG 27 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +20

During the Spurs’ 20-2 run in the third and fourth quarters, Green did a good all-around job as the Spurs put the game away.
Jeff Ayres, C 14 MIN | 4-5 FG | 1-1 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | +5

Ayres only played a minute in the first half, but came out gangbusters in the second. Had a big dunk to start the fourth quarter that kept San Antonio’s run alive.
Tiago Splitter, C 11 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -1

Not too much to say about Splitter’s night. San Antonio really only needed one big man at a time against Golden State and Diaw was the preferred alternate to Duncan. He should be more valuable against Oklahoma City on Thursday night.
Patty Mills, PG 20 MIN | 6-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +5

As we sat in the courtside press seats last night (total not-so-humblebrag on my part), the Express-News‘ Jeff McDonald asked me if he was crazy to think Mills could swing a playoff series. I don’t think Jeff is crazy—at least not for that—but I don’t think Mills will have that kind of impact. I think he’ll swing a game or two, but not a whole lot more than that. Oh, but Patty shot really well on Wednesday night.
Cory Joseph, PG 11 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | -4

Mostly garbage time duty for Cory against the Warriors.
Manu Ginobili, SG 19 MIN | 4-8 FG | 4-4 FT | 6 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 13 PTS | +21

Just amazing. Under 20 minutes of action and the man still flirted with a triple-double.
Marco Belinelli, SG 28 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +9

Belinelli is so quick to get off a shot in traffic. It’s the type of skill that is necessary when cutting to the basket as much as Belinelli does, but still surprising considering the gangly makeup of Marco. Couldn’t buy one from 3, but neither could most of the Spurs on Wednesday night.

Three Things We Saw

  1. With the Houston Rockets losing to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, the Spurs clinched the Southwest Division. Which really means nothing, but hey, it’s another year to throw on the banner of Southwest Division titles that hangs in the rafters of the AT&T Center.
  2. I wrote the lead story at the Daily Dime over on ESPN.com on this game, so go give that a read if you’re so inclined.
  3. 19 wins on the trot for the Spurs, 31 straight at home over the Warriors, 15 straight seasons with at least 50 wins. Things are getting a little ridiculous.
  • Jacob B

    Good write-up on the Dime, Andrew. : )
    I’ve mentioned this beore earlier in the season, but after looking at the rumors section of ESPN today, and noticing that the Spurs are looking to fill the 15th roster spot before the playoff run, I cannot help but gravitate towards wanting Antawn Jamison to join us. With Bonner’s injury and Baynes sustaining a cracked rib, it appears as though we should grab another big man. With the passing and scoring that Jamison can offer in limited minutes (not incredible, but a good average per minute), and his veteran leadership yielding saavy of the game in general, I think he would be a more than acceptable fill in for Bonner or even Diaw if he were to become gassed over time. Jamison seems like a “Spur” at heart too, at least on the surface, in the way of culture, team first wining, high BBIQ, etc… plus I just like the guy.
    Does anyone know who they may be targeting?

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    The Spurs just signed Damion James to a 10-day contract. But it’s likely just cover for tonight, when San Antonio will probably rest several guys and two or three others are out injured. By rule they have to dress at least 9 players.

  • Jacob

    Yes sir, It appears as if. Thanks -

  • Jamison at this point of his career isn’t much better than Daye. He’s a terrible defender & hasn’t had an assist since 98. He’s also not a “Big’ whatsoever he’s just an over-sized small forward. There is a good reason why the Clips dumped him while keeping Ryan Hollins who’s a terrible basketball player. Ron Artest has more left in the tank but Ivan Johnson (a better version of Ayres) is the best available big on the free agent market & has the more realistic chance to be picked up by the Spurs (He’s actually a home town boy).

  • asd

    If they were serious about picking up a small forward then they would have signed Mickeal Pietrus a while ago. This is nothing more than a 10 day rental until Daye/Bonner/Baynes recover. BTW, Damion used to be KD’s teammate at Texas…Pop is probably going to use him as KD’s prop for morning shoot around.

  • wannabe_fake_tough_guy

    Your DD lead story was kinda meh. (joke :P)

    In all seriousness, I enjoyed it. What I enjoyed more were some of the comments, like the dude from SA who said “19 in a row win streak and DisnESPN throws the Spurs a few conciliatory scraps. Meanwhile in Miami, Lebron dunked the ball in a real fancy way……”

    I’m still considering a response to him, but since his profile says “Churchill”, that means he’a an entitled rich kid who probably wouldn’t “get it”, lol!

    Props to Andrew on the scraps! LMAO!