Written by Matt Ellentuck at SBNation.com
The Golden State Warriors barely escaped from what would have been their first loss of the playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 with a 113-111 win.
This game wasn’t theirs to take until Kawhi Leonard went down with an ankle injury that caused him to leave the game in the third quarter. Leonard’s absence sparked a 18-0 run, and a slow and steady comeback paced the way for a back-and-forth fourth quarter until Stephen Curryfound his rhythm and outlasted the Spurs.
It wasn’t enough for Golden State to worry, but this was a serious wake-up call for a team that largely cruised its way through two opening-round sweeps. If Leonard is able to return in this series, the Warriors will have to earn three more wins, and that gets tougher on the road.
The Spurs’ system is what it is, and Curry himself agreed after the game that even without Leonard, it stays the same. That’s how a Dejounte Murray-Jonathon Simmons lineup was able to hold its own against a quartet of All-Stars.
The Spurs were tremendous defensively in the first half
Golden State’s offense was brutal to watch in the opening half. They scored just 42 points in the half, their fewest of the playoffs, and the Spurs turned 10 turnovers into 19 points.
The Warriors had trouble spacing the floor, and the Spurs flooded the perimeter to allow just nine first-half three-point attempts. Even 39-year-old Manu Ginobili stayed active enough to snag three steals and pull into the top 10 in that category in the playoffs for his career.
Sometimes it wasn’t even a matter of San Antonio forcing a miscue, it was the Warriors making their own mistakes. Without open shooters around the arc, Golden State was out of its element driving and kicking, and often forced what wasn’t there. That’s what San Antonio does, and the opening 24 minutes should cause concern for Warriors fans.
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