San Antonio Spurs leave it late to beat the Golden State Warriors 101-95: NBA Recap
The San Antonio Spurs pulled off a come from behind victory over the Golden State Warriors at the AT&T Center. The Spurs used all their veteran instincts to earn the win in a closely fought game in front of their home support 101
- 95.
Spurs guard Danny Green praised the defence for a strong showing after the break to pave the way for a San Antonio victory.
"I'd rather finish the game than start it. In the second half we did a great job shutting down their guards. They came out hot, but we played better defence. We play some good defence, we get some stops and we're able to get out
and run and get some open threes."
San Antonio were led by veteran point guard Tony Parker who racked up 21 points and 8 assists. Tim Duncan was solid as ever with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Richard Jefferson added another valuable 17.
The key for San Antonio though was stopping mercurial Golden State guard Monta Ellis. Ellis had a whopping 38 points and 7 assists as he looked unstoppable for most of the game. San Antonio got the better off him at the end though
thanks to some concerted efforts on defence.
"They tried to get the ball out of (Ellis') hands. He's just that good that he can create, take the double team and make plays. I'd love to give Green all the credit, but it was a collective effort trying to contain him." Said
Warriors coach Mark Jackson.
Controlling Ellis was also made easier by the fact that star point guard Stephen Curry limped out of the game with injury in the third quarter. He had 20 points and 8 assists up to that point.
The Warriors appeared the stronger team in the first quarter, and indeed the complete first half. They finished the first quarter leading 26 – 20 and by the time the half ended the score was 53 – 45 to Golden State. Their backcourt
combination of Ellis and Curry was on fire in the first quarter, helping the Warriors get to a position of strength by making 15 of 18 combined shots taken.
San Antonio showed signs of life early in the third period with a 6 – 0 run but were more or less kept in check by the Warriors throughout the quarter. The highlight of the quarter actually was the injury to Curry, which left the
door open for a Spurs comeback in the final period.
The score was 75 – 70 when the 4th quarter started and San Antonio seemed poised for a comeback right away, but Ellis had other ideas. With San Antonio drawing close, the sensational guard ignited an 8 – 2 run that left
Golden State sitting pretty at 88 – 80 with over 6 minutes left to play.
A 15 – 2 blitz though by the resurgent Spurs turned the tables on Golden State who looked out of sorts with their star man’s production curtailed by defensive heroics of the other team. Ellis came back with a 3-pointer to close
the gap again but San Antonio held on for a 101 – 95 win.
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