The old guard met the new guard as the San Antonio Spurs traveled to Oakland to meet the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were led by new coach Mark Jackson and under new ownership. For the Warrior faithful, this was hopefully the mark of a new era for a team who had not been to playoffs since 2007 and had longest streak in the NBA without back to back playoff appearances. With the young and exciting duo of Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry, the Warriors were seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The Spurs were coming off a disappointing end to their 2010-2011 season becoming the rare #1 seed to lose to an #8 when they were bounced by the Memphis Grizzlies. Gregg Popovich brought back his familar core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.
Early on, the veteran Spurs established Duncan who scored 11 in the first quarter. Big Fundamental was too much for Epke Udoh and David Lee scoring over both shoulders with ease. The young Warriors were struggling to hit shots early and fell behind by ten as Curry and Ellis both failed to score field goals in the first. The Spurs led 24-15 at the end of one.
The Warrior bench sparked a rally in the second quarter behind Reggie Williams and a rejuvenated Andres Biedrins. Williams used his unorthodoxed style to bring the Warriors back and eventually take the lead with a 13-2 run to begin things, Biedrins blocked and contested several Spurs shots and was a monster on the glass. Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker would come back in to settle things down and the Spurs regained the lead and stretched it to seven by half time as the trio would score the remaining 22 points of the quarter for the Spurs to give SA a 48-41 lead at the break. Ellis and Curry struggled shooting just 5-21 combined in the half.
The third quarter opened similar to the first as Duncan established himself on the block, drawing fouls on Udoh and Lee stifling any momentum the Warriors tried to gain. Ellis and Curry were able to find the touch in the quarter, combining for 15 in the third. The Spurs were able to extend the lead to 11 at the end of three, 75-64. Big Fundamental leading the way with 25 points, 9 rebounds, Parker chipping in 14 of his own.
As usual, Popovich managed the minutes of his veterans early in the season and that proved costly in this one. With Duncan, Ginobili , and Parker on the bench, the Warriors went on a 17-3 run. Ellis slicing and dicing the Spurs slower guards for 10 points during the run. Dorrell Wright, fighting a bad knee, found the perimeter touch making a pair of threes to extend the Warrior lead to nine. Popovinch put his Big 3 back into the contest and Duncan quickly restored order running off 8 straight on his way to a game high 41. The game went back and forth as the teams exchanged the lead. With two minutes to play and the game tied at 93, Curry was able to shake lose from Parker and hit a three pointer from deep in the corner and was fouled by Matt Bonner for the rare four point play. Ginobili quickly answered with a three to cut the lead to one but the Spurs got no closer as Ellis responded with a three-point play , followed by a crucial steal leading to a David Lee dunk. The young Warriors picked up a huge win for them 105-99.
Hot-Tub Time Machine
Tim Duncan: 41 points, 11 rebounds
Young Guns
Stephen Curry: 15 points 5-16 fg,
Monta Ellis: 29 points, 10-22 fg
Other Scores
Dallas 109, Toronto 93
Milwaukee 96, New Jersey 88
Cleveland 84, Denver 97
LA Lakers 102, Sacramento 92
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