Warriors rally to beat Spurs, tie series
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors drives against Tony Parker #9 and Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs in Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NBA Playoffs on May 12, 2013 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. AFP
OAKLAND, California — The Golden State Warriors delivered a dominant performance in overtime to complete a 97-87 come from behind win over San Antonio Sunday and level their NBA playoff series.
The Warriors knotted the best-of-seven Western Conference second-round series at two games apiece, an important victory with the series heading back to San Antonio for game five on Tuesday.
The win ensures the series will come back to Oakland for game six on Thursday.
With Golden State star Stephen Curry hindered by an ankle injury, Harrison Barnes led the Warriors with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think the biggest thing is this team, we’re not going to give up,” Barnes said. “This team is just going to continue to fight, continue to fight.”
Jarrett Jack scored 24 points and Curry chipped in 22 for Golden State, whose 65-51 advantage in rebounding — spearheaded by Andrew Bogut’s 18 boards — helped them overcome 18 turnovers.
“Tonight, Barnes and Jack were tremendous. They got the job done for them,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Usually the playoffs, teams that win, have other people step up at some point in a series. Those two guys did it tonight in really fine fashion.”
Klay Thompson scored just 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, but his running bank shot over Tim Duncan knotted the score at 84-84 with 30 seconds left in regulation.
The Spurs missed their next eight attempts, shooting just 35.5 percent overall.
Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 21 points, but he missed a three-point attempt with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“The truth is that wasn’t a play for me, but I had to attack,” Ginobili said. “But my last few shots were short. I don’t know if I got tired or what, but I stopped pushing my legs. That would have meant the game, so it’s hard to swallow. That would have been 3-1 and a great situation. But sometimes they don’t fall.”
Duncan scored 19 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Tony Parker added 17 despite playing with a left calf injury resulting from a kick he received in game three.
The Warriors, who trailed by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, never led in the final frame but pulled level twice.
Thompson pulled them within 82-80 and a basket by Jack knotted the score with 58.5 seconds remaining.
Parker responded with a basket, but Thompson again pulled the Warriors level at 84-84.
After Ginobili’s miss, the Warriors gained the ball. On their final possession of regulation, Jack was off-target with a jump shot contested by Parker.
It was Jack, however, who opened the scoring in overtime, sparking Golden State’s 9-0 run to open the extra period that secured the victory.
“(In) the overtime we just stopped scoring,” Ginobili said. “We kept running the same plays, our usual stuff and they just didn’t fall and they made every shot in overtime.
“What is disappointing is that we had a great game, we had been where we wanted, and we blew it,” Ginobili said. “So it kind of hurts. But we are 2-2, we are going back home, we have a great opportunity to go back up in the series.”
The winner of the series advances to the Western Conference finals, where they will face either the Memphis Grizzlies or Oklahoma City Thunder.
Memphis took a 2-1 lead in that series on Saturday with an 87-81 victory.
