SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors didn’t want this one, however it could have made it a complete lot simpler.
Golden State began quick, its stars performed their finest basketball after halftime however nonetheless wasn’t capable of put away what appeared to be the best sport left on its schedule.
Regardless of scoring the primary 11 factors of the sport, the primary six of the second half and getting 58 mixed factors from Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors fell Wednesday evening to the San Antonio Spurs, 114-111, packing extra strain onto their closing two contests.
With none assist, the Warriors might want to win each their closing video games in opposition to the Path Blazers and Clippers to clinch the No. 6 seed and keep away from the dreaded play-in match. They journey to Portland on Friday and host Los Angeles of their regular-season finale on Sunday.
The Warriors led by as many as 14 factors within the second half however had been tied at 111 with 3.1 seconds left on the clock when the ball discovered the arms of Harrison Barnes, who put up a prayer from 3-point territory that fell by means of the web because the buzzer sounded.
Golden State had possession in a tied sport with with 32.6 seconds left, however Barnes got here up massive once more, intercepting Curry’s inbound cross and organising a layup from Keon Johnson that put San Antonio up 111-109. Draymond Inexperienced sank a pair of free throws and San Antonio known as timeout, organising the ultimate possession.
Curry completed with a game-high 30 factors, Butler poured in 28 factors and Inexperienced crammed the statsheet with 13 factors, 9 rebounds and eight assists. However it wasn’t sufficient to beat the Spurs, who had misplaced eight of their earlier 9 video games getting into Wednesday, together with a 148-106 rout final week in San Antonio.
With out Victor Wembanyama or De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs had been led by three gamers who scored 20-plus factors. Stephon Fort and Keldon Johnson every contributed 21 factors, and Barnes added 20 to go along with double-figures from 4 different scorers.
Golden State acquired off to a quick begin from the opening tip, and it appeared just like the Warriors is perhaps in for a win paying homage to their street rout. The Warriors pressured the Spurs to overlook their first six makes an attempt from the sector and jumped out to an 11-0 lead. They held a 32-23 benefit on the finish of the primary interval.
The sport was the Warriors’ sixth in 4 cities prior to now eight days, and so they fell to 8-6 within the second half of a back-to-back. Their 133-95 win the earlier evening in Phoenix meant none of Curry, Butler or Inexperienced needed to log greater than 25 minutes.
They didn’t have the identical luxurious in opposition to the Spurs, who climbed all the best way again from their chilly begin to take a 55-51 lead into the locker room. San Antonio didn’t go away after halftime, falling behind by as many as 14 factors however pulling all the best way again to make it a recent ballgame with 5 minutes left.
Initially Revealed: April 9, 2025 at 9:35 PM PDT
