Game 1, Spurs 129, Warriors 127 in Double 0vertime

You’ve probably seen it all already…Manu going from Goat to Hero, Pop changing from wanting to trade Manu on the spot to wanting to cook him breakfast in the morning…that’s the beauty of ESPN or NBA TV.  You probably even heard about the Screaming Lady Spurs Fan (or heard her during the live broadcast of the game).  You’ve seen it, had your own thoughts about it, heard what all the sportscasters had to say, read all the articles.  How Game 1 will affect the Warriors have been covered by the sportscasters and is irrelevant to me.  What matters is what happens in Game 2.  If the Warriors come out and win Game 2 it will re-enforce the fact that the Warriors can win this series and Game 1 will just have been a step towards that end.  If they lose Game 2, then the coulda, shoulda, woulda talk will seep into their heads.  No one but the Warriors themselves know for sure what they’re thinking right now. 

What I do know for sure is my thoughts as the game went on.  From the beginning I thought the Spurs were in trouble.  The Warriors were building a double-digit lead while Stephon Curry was missing shots.  When Curry got hot in the 3^rd quarter I felt it was over.  Even though I hung around to see if the Spurs would mount a comeback in the 4^th quarter, I didn’t think it was possible.  With the score 104-88 with 3:57 left I was ready to go to bed.  Why I stayed up to watch any longer I don’t know.  Maybe it was because Richard Jefferson entered the game for the first time and I wanted to see how he was going to act with his new team about to beat his old team…especially since, up to this point, he had no playing time.  Jefferson came in when the clock stopped with Tony Parker on the free throw line.  Parker hit both…no biggie, score is still 104-90. 

Then a Warrior miss…Parker drives for a layup.  Then a Curry turnover, Parker drives and makes another layup.  Steal by Khawai Leonard, followed by a jumper in the lane by Leonard.   Maybe, just maybe….another miss by the Warriors, but Danny Green misses a layup…Spurs get the rebound, but Parker turns it over.  Gary Neal fouls Jefferson…104-96, 1:57 left, Jefferson on the line.  My thoughts at the time…nice effort, but the Spurs are going to come up short.

Then Jefferson misses both free throws.  That’s when I start thinking about destiny…and Murphy.  Go figure, Jefferson doesn’t play all game, is probably in the game because it would be nice for him to get some playing time against the club that traded him. 

Leonard than drains a 3 pointer from the top of the key, Curry misses and Parker turns it into another layup.  Wow, 104-101 and it’s suddenly a one possession game.  At this point, Jefferson gets yanked out of the game….don’t exactly know why, but that couldn’t have felt good for Jefferson.  His replacement, Carl Landry then promptly misses a jumper and on the rebound Boris Diaw gets fouled.  Silly mistake by the Warriors, and Diaw cashes in the free throws to pull them within 104-103 without the clock moving.   That ended up being big when Kent Blazemore scores his lone bucket to put the Warriors up 106-103, but leaving 29 seconds left on the clock. 

Time out, Pop draws up a play, Green gets an open look off a screen and drains the three to tie it….and I’m jumping up off the couch , pumping my fist , and wanting to yell out, but it’s late and everyone else in the house is in bed sleeping.  

On a side note here, I thought Curry really blew it in the last possession.  If you watch the replay, Curry had a guy open to his right when he got doubled (can’t tell who it was because the broadcast was zoomed in on Curry and you could only see the guy’s legs).  Whoever it was would have gotten an open look to win the game…instead Curry forced the shot up.

In the two OTs, every time the Warriors went up, I thought, oh no, all this effort only to lose…but the Spurs kept finding a way to tie it back up.  When the Spurs went up 126-121 in the 2^nd OT I thought, finally they got this.  Warriors then scored 6 straight to take a 127-126 with 3.9 seconds left.  Don’t know why, but Jefferson came back into the game…maybe they wanted him to be on the court when the buzzer sounded, I don’t know.  Did it have anything to do with the final outcome….don’t know that either.  All I know….and what everyone saw….was that the Warriors left Ginobili wide open and he drained the three with 1.2 left to make it 129-127 which ended up being the final score. 

In the post game interview, Ginobili said that the last play was supposed to go either to Parker or Diaw…Pop told him to go as far away from the play as he could….maybe Pop will put it in the play book now.