Spurs hold off Warriors, advance
The San Antonio Spurs held off a furious final rally to beat the Golden State Warriors 94-82 in Game 6 on Thursday night in Oakland, Calif., and advance to the NBA Western Conference finals.
Tim Duncan had 19 points and six rebounds, Kawhi Leonard scored 16 points and the Spurs won the series in six games.
Tony Parker shook off a poor start to score 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Tiago Splitter added a career-playoff high 14 points for San Antonio, which led by 13 late in the third quarter.
Stephen Curry shot 10 of 25 from the floor to score 22 points on a nagging left ankle. Jarrett Jack had 15 points as the injury-saddled Warriors wore down. The Spurs outshot Golden State 45 percent to 39 percent.
Second-seeded San Antonio will open the conference finals at home against Memphis on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Grizzlies eliminated Oklahoma City in five games.
The Spurs became the first team to win consecutive games in the series. They handed the Warriors consecutive losses for the first time in these playoffs.
The Spurs quieted a standing-room-only crowd late in the third quarter and seemingly seized control for good. Instead, the Warriors roared back.
Klay Thompson, who had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting, made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter that sliced San Antonio’s lead to three. And Curry’s pull-up jumper brought the Warriors within 77-75 with 4:52 to play.
Parker was 1 for 13 before hitting a corner 3-pointer to give San Antonio an 80-75 lead. Leonard followed with two free throws to put the Spurs up seven.
Jack made a jumper and two free throws to bring the Warriors back again. Then Leonard hit another corner 3-pointer for the Spurs to go ahead 85-79.
Curry and Thompson had consecutive 3s rim out on the same possession. Parker hit another 3-pointer to put San Antonio up 88-79 with 1:15 remaining and send some of the yellow-shirted crowd of 19,596 heading to the exits.
Fans serenaded the home team with chants of “Warr-i-ors!” in the final seconds. Curry also grabbed the microphone after the game and thanked fans at halfcourt, breaking the huddle with the crowd, “Just us!”
The Spurs showed incredible ball movement all game and had the Warriors playing from behind most of the way. San Antonio’s first 10 field goals came on an assist, going ahead by 10 points twice in the second quarter and maintaining that cushion until late.
Warriors upstart rookie Harrison Barnes fell awkwardly while leaping to contest a layup in the second quarter from Boris Diaw.
Barnes hit the court hard and his teammates immediately called for the training staff to attend to him as the arena fell silent. He received six stitches above his right eye at halftime and ran on the court late to start the third quarter, bringing fans to their feet roaring once more.
Barnes left the game in the fourth quarter because of a headache, the team said. He finished with nine points and four rebounds in 31 minutes.
Knicks 85, Pacers 75: Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points to help the New York Knicks stay alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 85-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 in New York.
Reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each had 13 points for the Knicks, who trail 3-2 and will need a victory Saturday in Indiana to force a seventh game back here Monday. They are trying to become the ninth NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
Anthony, who didn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter of either game in Indiana, made a jumper midway through the fourth quarter after Indiana closed within four points. He followed with two free throws, Raymond Felton made a layup, and the Knicks were never in jeopardy again.