Game 4: Golden State Warriors 90-103 San Antonio Spurs - 5 Talking Points
In what has to be considered one of the bigger upsets of this playoff season, the Golden State Warriors were made to wait in their bid to advance to the second round by the San Antonio Spurs, who won Game 4 at the AT&T Center 103-90 to take the series back to Oakland and gain some respectability in a series which currently stands 3-1.
It was a rough shooting night for the Warriors, who had a field goal percentage of 37.8% making only 34 out of 90 shot attempts. Even though they vastly outrebounded the home team (61 boards as compared to the Spurs' 34), their shooting woes made their task all the more difficult as they trailed for the entire duration of the game.
The Spurs, coached by Hall of Famer Ettore Messina in Coach Pop's absence, put in an effort befitting of the win over the reigning champs.
The following are 5 important talking points from the game:
#5 Low-scoring first half for the Warriors
The San Antonio Spurs have been a great defensive team even against a stacked Golden State team with 3 All-Stars. Although they have unraveled in the 3rd quarters of games 2 and 3, when Golden State created enough separation to win both games, by and large, they've been a good defensive side.
This time around, the Spurs held the Warriors to their lowest-scoring quarter of the 13 they'd played so far by the end of the first quarter - 22 points. They built upon that solid start to further stymie Golden State in the 2nd quarter, allowing only 20 points.
The likes of Danny Green, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kyle Anderson were instrumental in this effort. There were no open 3s for the likes of Klay Thompson or Quinn Cook to get a rhythm going early on, and they gave few opportunities on the break to the Warriors, who thrive on transition scoring.