NBA: Spurs survive in double OT against relentless Warriors

(Updated 1:18pm) Manu Ginobili nailed a huge triple with 1.2 seconds left in double overtime and Jarret Jack could not answer back on the last possession of the game, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 129-127 win over the Golden State Warriors.

The win also gave the second-seeded Spurs a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series, Monday (Tuesday, PHL time) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

The Spurs improved to 30-0 against the Warriors at home, all over the span of Tim Duncan's career with San Antonio.

[Read the series preview of the Spurs versus the Warriors]

The visiting Warriors failed in their upset bid, despite 44 points and 11 assists from star guard Stephen Curry. In the regular season, the two sides drew 2-2.

Golden State got the first five points of overtime, but the Spurs equaled that right after, forging another deadlock with 2:27 left in the extra period. Off a turnover by Draymond Green, Danny Green scored on a lay-up to put the home team ahead, 113-111.

Stephen Curry picked off a Manu Ginobili pass for a lay-up, but Kawhi Leonard went right back on the other end, canning a pull-up for another Spurs lead, 1:02 left.

Both sides exchanged misses, giving possession back to the Warriors, who leaned on Jack anew for another deadlock, 115-all, just 20.3 seconds remaining in the OT period. The Spurs went to Manu Ginobili after three timeouts, but the veteran missed, sending the game into another overtime period.

The Warriors got multiple looks early in the second overtime period, but it was Harrison Barnes who drew first blood, canning a triple off Curry's 10th assist. Twin scores by Tony Parker sandwiched Draymond Green charities, 120-119, 2:41 left, but Green fouled out on the next possession and that led to a Boris Diaw jumper that put the Spurs up, 121-120.

Off a Carl Landry turnover, Parker went back to work, hitting another pull-up jumper to make it a three-point affair, 123-120. Jarret Jack managed a split at the line to stop the Warriors' bleeding, but Danny Green nailed a huge triple, boosting San Antonio's lead up to five, 126-121, 1:06 left.

The Warriors refused to give up though, unleashing six straight, topped off by a lay-up from the unheralded Kent Bazemore, putting them on top, 127-126 with just 3.9 ticks on the clock.



In the end, it was Manu Ginobili who hit the game-winner, canning a triple that made up for his poor missed a possession ago, to arrive at the final score of 129-127. Golden State still had 1.2 seconds and several timeouts left, but Jarret Jack's triple failed to connect with 0.2 seconds left.

The Warriors were on fire early on, jumping out to an 11-3 lead, after three charities by Klay Thompson, after he was fouled by Kawhi Leonard on a triple try. The Spurs reserves however made it a fight towards the end of the first period, as Gary Neal, Matt Bonner and Manu Ginobili all connected from the floor to make it just a three-point deficit, 28-25.

DeJuan Blair started off the second period with a lay-up getting San Antonio within a point, but back-to-back triples by Stephen Curry made it a nine-point affair at 33-42, halfway through the quarter.

The Spurs' big three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Ginobili scored six, making it a two-point game at 49-47. However, a late triple by rookie Harrison Barnes held them off, giving the Warriors a slim 53-49 advantage at the break.

Then as has been his habit in third quarters of the Denver Nuggets quarterfinals series, Stephen Curry took over.

Curry, who played all but four seconds in the period, suddenly exploded for 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, connecting on 4-of-6 from downtown.

The Spurs had gotten within a point, 58-57, 9:45 left in the period but a trey from Curry, and then two finds to Draymond Green, held the home team at bay. Leonard and Duncan responded with back-to-back hits, 66-63, and then twin triples from Danny Green kept it at a three-point game, 72-69.

However, it was time for Curry to take over, and the streaky shooter exploded, scoring 14 of his team's last 16 points, getting the Golden State lead to as high as 18, 90-72, 37.5 ticks left in the period. An and-one play by Manu Ginboili interrupted 12 straight by Curry, and then after a Harrison Barnes dunk, another Danny Green trey and two Gary Neal triples made it just a 12-point affair, 92-80, one more canto to play.

Golden State shot 70.8 percent from the field in the third, en route to 39 points.

Manu Ginobili started the fourth with a deuce, for a 10-point deficit, 92-82, but six straight Warriors points ballooned their tally to 98, three minutes into the fourth. The Spurs punched back with six straight of their own, bringing it down to 10 anew, only for Curry to get to the rim on consecutive possessions, drawing a timeout from Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich at the 5:34 mark, with the score at 102-88.

Jarret Jack added two charities for a 104-88 tally, but turnovers began to plague the Warriors, which the Spurs dutifully capitalized on. Six unanswered by Parker, followed by a lay-up from Kawhi Leonard, got the San Antonio deficit under double-digits, 104-96, 2:42 remaining.

Off a timeout, Golden State got two shots at the basket, but missed both. Former Spur Richard Jefferson drew a foul from Gary Neal but missed both, which led to a triple by Leonard at the other end. Curry tried to get it back with his version of a triple, but was blocked by Boris Diaw, which beget a lay-up by Parker, to get the Spurs within a single possession, 104-101.

The Warriors sued for time anew, but Carl Landry failed to connect on a jumper, and then gave up a loose ball foul for two Boris Diaw charities, 104-103, 59.8 seconds left. Curry missed anew, but an offensive rebound led to a step-back jumper by Jarret Jack, getting the two points back.

San Antonio called timeout and Manu Ginobili found Danny Green for the game-tying triple, 106-all. The Warriors milked the clock, but Stephen Curry couldn't close out the game, leading to the first overtime.

Tony Parker finished with 28 points on 26 attempts, adding eight rebounds and eight assists in 47 minutes of action. Danny Green added 22 points, canning 6-of-9 from downtown, while Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard added 19 and 18 markers, respectively, and combined for 20 rebounds.

Manu Ginobili came off the bench for 16 points, in addition to seven rebounds and a team-high 11 assists.

In addition to Curry's firepower, the Warriors also drew 19 apiece from Klay Thompson, before he fouled out in regulation, and rookie Harrison Barnes, who also hauled in 12 rebounds.

Jarret Jack poured in 15 points off the bench, while Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green tallied 10 markers apiece, plus 22 boards and three blocks.

Despite having an older roster, San Antonio actually out-scored Golden State 19-9 in fast break points.

The Warriors lost despite a 51.0 percent shooting clip, due in part to giving up 50 percent shooting from downtown to the Spurs. San Antonio also hit a higher clip of their free throws, 24-of-28, compared to 14-of-24 for Golden State.  - AMD, GMA News