The Golden State Warriors are in the second round of the playoffs. In game 5, Kevin Durant and Co. beat San Antonio Spurs 99:91 (BOXSCORE). Thanks to LaMarcus Aldridge, the Spurs turn up late again before KD packs the victory for the dubs into dry cloths.
It didn’t look good for the Spurs early on, with Ettore Messina representing head coach Gregg Popovich on the sideline again after his wife’s death. Draymond Green hit a completely open three-pointer from the corner for a quick 7-0 lead, so the hall was there immediately. But the guests struggled and came back with a good defense.
Offensively, however, it was once again hard fare, especially because the champion took care of LaMarcus Aldridge more than carefully. The Warriors, on the other hand, used Klay Thompson’s hot hand several times and were thus able to conceal Kevin Durant’s initially weak idea. The Shooting Guard was already on break at 17 points, while San Antonio had only hit 31 percent of the litters.
That the Spurs were still only 11 points behind at half-time was due to the fact that Golden State did little in the semi-field, among other things the Dubs only scored 20 percent from a distance. However, as the switch-over game worked perfectly (already 10 Fastbreak points), the Warriors had put 49 points on the scoreboard after 24 minutes.
Even after the change, the hosts kept catching San Antonio on the wrong foot in transition, so the Spurs couldn’t make up any ground, even though Aldridge was now more aggressive. With the exception of Patty Mills, however, there was still a lack of shooting, so the warriors were able to narrow the field again.
However, the dubs were not able to set themselves apart decisively. Even at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs were still somehow in the game with a narrow double-digit gap. After a dunk from LMA, both teams split just 6 points 150 seconds before the end, the Warriors fell too much in love with their jumper during this phase, but remained cold. Durant also seemed to notice that he finished the 6:0 run after a drive with a brilliant dunk.
But San Antonio had upper water. Davis Bertans scored from downtown, Aldridge continued to rage in the zone, followed by four free throws, it was one minute to play and the game was fully open (93:91 Warriors). The Dubs were looking for KD and Manu Ginobili scored a shotclock, but Manu Ginobili finally decided the game with a completely messed up pass towards Aldridge, which trundled into the end.
Best scorer of the Warriors was Durant with 25 points (8/19 FG), Thompson came in at 24 (11/22 FG). Draymond Green (17, 19 rebounds, 7 assists) improved his rebound career high again. For the Spurs the performances of Aldridge (30, 8/18 FG, 14/14 FT, 12 Rebounds) and Mills (18) were not enough.
The Warriors will move into the Western Conference Semifinals and will now meet the New Orleans Pelicans, who had swept the Portland Trail Blazers. As against the Spurs, the Dubs have the home advantage.