Can the Spurs Surprise the Warriors?
Kawhi Leonard’s ankle injury might just be a deal-breaker for the Spurs.
The short answer is no. They can’t. The long answer is a big fat maybe. In Game 1 at Oracle Arena, the Spurs looked like they had a hold on things — going into the half with a 62-42 lead. But then the worst possible thing happened. Kawhi Leonard re-injured the same ankle he hurt against the Rockets. First he stepped on a teammate’s foot along the bench following a made three. Then, Zaza Pachulia stepped into him as he came down from shooting, sending Leonard falling into the Spurs bench, grabbing his ankle. What ensued was nothing short of nightmarish for San Antonio.
They lost a 25-point lead and watched their momentum wither to nothing. Leonard left in the third quarter and that’s when Steph Curry started working his magic. With him out, the Warriors mounted a huge 18-0 run. Then in the fourth, Kevin Durant took the baton from Curry and ran with it — scoring 10 straight during a key stretch on the way to 34 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Pachulia also chipped in with a cool 11 points and 9 assists. But the top dog was Curry who sank a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining. He finished with 40 points and 7 boards.
Draymond Green sealed the 113-111 victory with a go-ahead three-point play on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Leonard’s Loss Proves Fatal
Leonard left the court with 23 minutes remaining. He walked off with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and a perfect percentage from the stripe (11-11). LeMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points in 40 minutes. Manu Ginobili added 17 off the bench. But in the end, Leonard’s absence was too much to bear for the Spurs. Which is sad because the Spurs outplayed the Warriors for most of the game.
“It’s a tough break. He’s coming from an injury on that ankle and he tweaked it twice in the last minute he played,” Ginobili said. “So we couldn’t react to his absence.”
The loss of Leonard may turn out to be the big story of the series. As of now, there’s no word yet on whether he’ll come back.
So if you’re wondering whether or not the Spurs have the grapes to upset the Warriors in this series, the answer depends largely on Leonard’s status — or else Gregg Popovich is going to have to find a way to build a winning team without his top star.
