The Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-111 at home to take the game one in the series. And it was a real drama on the opening night of the Western Conference finals, as the Warriors managed to overcome a 25 point deficit. The Spurs led by 20 points at the half and pushed their lead to 25 points in the third quarter, but then they lost Kawhi Leonard, and their lead started to vanish.
No Leonard, no party
Kawhi Leonard injured his ankle twice in the third quarter. First, he stepped on his teammate's foot, and minutes after that he stepped on Zaza Pachulia's foot.
Leonard made both free throws, left the game and did not return. The Spurs led by 23 points at that point.
Then the lead started to slip away, as the Warriors cut it to nine points at the end of the third quarter. The visitors were still able to score, but they had a big trouble defensively. After Leonard had left the game, with 20 minutes left on the clock, the Warriors outscored the Spurs 58-34. The big part of that comeback was an 18-0 run that happened right after Leonard got injured.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors
The Warriors offense mostly depended on two guys – Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, as they combined for 74 points. Curry finished the game with a big 40 points while shooting 14 of 26 from the field and 7 of 16 from the three-point line in 39 minutes on the floor.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points, grabbed five rebounds, had four assists and four blocks, as he shot 11 of 21 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Klay Thompson had an awful game offensively, but he was a crucial guy at the defensive end.
Thompson shot just 2 of 11 from the field and 1 of 3 from downtown, as he finished the game with only six points.
He also had three steals and two blocks in the game. Draymond Green had nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 36 minutes of play, while Zaza Pachulia scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 25 minutes on the floor.
Kawhi Leonard was outstanding while he was on the floor. He played only 23 minutes and scored 26 points while shooting 7 of 13 from the field and perfectly 11 of 11 from the free throw line.
He also grabbed eight rebounds.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs in scoring with 28 points, as he shot 11 of 24 from the field. Jonathon Simmons added 12 points for the visitors, while Manu Ginobili scored 17 points off the bench.
Here is what Stephen Curry said after that big comeback: „We played smarter, played our game. The key to tonight's win was aggressiveness, attention to details and making shots.“
The next game is on the schedule for Tuesday, at 9:00 pm in Oakland.
