Thrilling openers
Spurs, Ginobili sink Warriors
SAN ANTONIO – Manu Ginobili’s 3-pointer from the wing with 1.2 seconds left in the second overtime lifted the San Antonio Spurs to a thrilling 129-127 victory over the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry’s 44 points in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal Monday night.
The Spurs trailed by 16 points with 4 minutes left in regulation before going on an 18-2 run to close the fourth quarter and force overtime.
They trailed 127-126 with 3.9 seconds left in the second overtime before Ginobili hit his 3-pointer off a cross-court inbounds pass from Kawhi Leonard.
“It’s only the second one I made all day,” Ginobili said. “Good timing though.”
Golden State had one final chance but Jarrett Jack’s 3-pointer from the top of the key was off.
After trailing by so many points late, Ginobili wasn’t sure how his team rallied for the improbable victory.
“I have no clue. I really got to watch it to see what happened,” he said. “They started missing shots. Steph was unbelievable in the third quarter.”
Tony Parker scored 28 points to lead San Antonio while Danny Green added 22 points, Leonard had 18 and Ginobili 16.
Tim Duncan finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes. Duncan, who is battling a stomach bug, left the game with 3 minutes left in regulation and played only the final seconds of each overtime period.
Curry had 11 assists and was 18 of 35 from the field and 6 of 14 on 3-pointers for Golden State, which has lost 30 straight in San Antonio dating to Feb. 14, 1997. Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes each added 19 points, Jack had 15 and Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Golden State trailed by five with 1 minute left in the second overtime before the Warriors scored six straight points to take a one-point lead on Kent Bazemore’s reverse layup that gave the Warriors a 127-126 advantage with 3.9 seconds remaining.
The Warriors missed eight of their final nine shots in regulation, including a desperation heave by Curry at the buzzer against several defenders.
The Spurs slowed Curry early in the fourth quarter by putting the 6-foot-7 Leonard on him in the quarter. Curry scored only six points in the fourth quarter, helping fuel San Antonio’s rally behind Parker and Leonard.
Curry had 22 points in the third quarter, including 14 straight late in the period.