No. 2 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 7 Spurs
(Warriors lead first-round playoff series 3-0)
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92, Saturday, April 14, Oakland, Calif.
Game 2: Warriors 116, Spurs 101, Monday, April 16, Oakland
Game 3: Warriors 110, Spurs 97, Thursday, AT&T Center
Game 4: Sunday, 2:30 p.m., AT&T Center
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 24, Time TBD, Oakland
*Game 6: Thursday, April 26, Time TBD, AT&T Center
*Game 7: Saturday, April 28, Time TBD, Oakland
*If necessary
A frustrating roller-coaster season marred by the saga of All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard's mysterious quadriceps injury will end for the Spurs on Sunday if they can't avoid getting swept by the Golden State Warriors for the second year in a row.
The Warriors swept the Silver and Black in the Western Conference finals last year and pushed them to the brink of playoff elimination Thursday with a 110-97 victory in Game 3 at the AT&T Center.
Game 4 is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on the same floor. Golden State has dominated San Antonio in taking a 3-0 lead in the series, winning each game by double digits.
So what's the Spurs' mindset going into the close-out game for the Warriors?
"The same mindset that you play with every time you have no tomorrow," veteran guard Manu Ginobili said. "You have one game. If you don't win it, you're on vacations. We want to keep fighting. We want to keep trying as hard as we can, and Game 4 is our last opportunity. We really want to do better. We feel like there's always been something missing, that we had opportunities, and we want to get this next one."
The Spurs will be without longtime head coach Gregg Popovich for the second game since his wife, Erin, died Wednesday after a long illness. Assistant coach Ettore Messina will handle the coaching duties again in Popovich's absence.
Even without two-time MVP Stephen Curry, the Warriors have dominated the series from the opening tip. Led by All-NBA forward Kevin Durant and All-Star guard Klay Thompson, Golden State has outscored San Antonio by an average score of 113-96.7.
Durant has averaged 27.3 points, connecting on 52.8 percent of his field goal attempts. Averaging 25.7 points, Thompson is shooting a scorching 63.3 percent and is 65.0 percent from the three-point line.
The stats Durant and Thompson have put up reflect the torrid offensive pace of the Warriors, who are shooting 52.7 overall and 41.2 from beyond the arc.
While the Warriors have had little trouble scoring, the Spurs have struggled mightily to put the ball in the basket, shooting only 41.3 percent in three games. The Silver and Black have been particularly poor from the three-point line, shooting only 24.1 percent. San Antonio was a combined 11 of 61 from long distance in Games 2 (4/28) and 3 (7/33).
Messina expressed confidence that the Spurs still will be standing after Game 4 if their shots finally start falling.
“Of course, it’s a tough situation,” Messina said after Saturday's workout. “But the first thing is to clear our mind. If you watched the stat sheet of the last game, we had more points in the paint, we had more free throws, we won the boards, and all quarters were decided by a small margin.
“Again, against a fantastic team like they are – remember they’ve won 18 or 19 straight (it's 19) playoff games with Western Conference teams – we know what we’re playing against. Doing everything a little better will be, of course, the key. So we talked a little bit, watched a little bit of film. I think the team is ready to play and compete.”
Leonard was limited to only nine games by tendinopathy in his right quadriceps and hasn't played since Jan. 13. While cleared by the Spurs' medical staff, Leonard sought a second opinion in New York and has continued his rehab work in the Big Apple since last month.
Sunday night could be the last time fans see Ginobili play if the Spurs lose and he retires after the season. Thinking Ginobili might hang it up last year, Popovich started Ginobili in Game 4 to give fans a chance to show their appreciation when he was introduced.
After the game, Ginobili was showered with chants of "Manu, Manu, Manu" as he walked off the court. His head lowered, Ginobili acknowledged fans with a wave before he went to the team's locker room.
Of course, Ginobili did not retire, opting to return for his 16th season with the Spurs. He has played on four of the franchise's championship team and is a lock to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame someday.
For his part, Ginobili wants no repeat of the attention he received from the crowd after the Warriors ended the Silver and Black's season last year.
"I said it many times already, last year was super awkward, super awkward because I was being retired when I didn't say anything," Ginobili said. "I didn't want to acknowledge it. I didn't want to ignore it. I wanted to thank them, but if I thanked them and start doing like this (waving), it felt like I was saying... I didn't know how to react, truly.
"Of course, I appreciated it, the whole thing, and hopefully it doesn't happen again. Hopefully, we win, we'll have a good game, we're up 20 and there's no situation where there's room for that."
