San Francisco – The Warriors did not need this, but it would have made it much easier.
Golden State started quickly, his stars played his best basketball after part time, but he still couldn’t keep what seemed to be the easiest game that was left in his schedule.
Despite scoring the first 11 points of the game, the first six of the second half and obtaining 58 combined points of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors fell on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs, 114-111, packing more pressure.
Without any help, the Warriors will need to win their two final games against the Trail Blazers and Clippers to ensure seed number 6 and avoid the dreaded game tournament. They travel to Portland on Friday and receive Los Angeles at their end of the regular season on Sunday.
The Warriors led by up to 14 points in the second half, but were tied at 111 with 3.1 remaining seconds on the clock when the ball found the hands of Harrison Barnes, who put a prayer from the 3 -point territory that fell through the bell.
Golden State had possession in a game tied with 32.6 seconds, but Barnes was great again, intercepting Curry’s incoming pass and establishing a Keon Johnson tray that put San Antonio 111-109. Drayond Green sank a couple of free throws and San Antonio called Timeout, establishing the final possession.
Curry finished with 30 points in the game, Butler poured 28 points and Green filled the statistics sheet with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. But it was not enough to overcome the Spurs, who lost eight of their previous nine games entering Wednesday, including a defeat of 148-106 last week in San Antonio.
Golden State had a quick start from the Opening Council, and it seemed that the Warriors could be in a victory that reminds of their road routes. The Warriors forced the Spurs to lose their first six attempts in the field and jumped to an advantage of 11-0. They had an advantage of 32-23 at the end of the first period.
The game was the sixth of the Warriors in four cities in the last eight days, and fell to 8-6 in the second half of a back consumption. His 133-95 won the night before in Phoenix meant that none of Curry, Butler or Green had to register more than 25 minutes.
They did not have the same luxury against the Spurs, who went up from their cold, began to take an advantage of 55-51 in the locker room. San Antonio did not disappear after part time, leaving behind so many axis 14 points, but backed up to turn it into a fresh ball game with 5 minutes.