Warriors rout Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs by 36 points, take 2-0 series lead
OAKLAND – The San Antonio Spurs hadn’t even reached the gym yet, and the Golden State Warriors were already getting in their way.
They should have known then that it was going to be a long night.
En route to Game 2 at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night, where the NBA’s most dominant team would face the Spurs without Kawhi Leonard because of the controversial ankle injury he suffered in the Western Conference finals opener two days before, the Spurs had their bus slowed by Warriors acting coach Mike Brown as he arrived to work in his black Range Rover. The cops had to intervene, telling Brown to move aside while Gregg Popovich and his Spurs coaching crew had a good laugh at it all from their front row seats.
Yet the real laugher, as it turned out, was the game itself.
The Warriors’ 136-100 rout was a dispiriting affair, the kind of sporting event that leaves one team’s fanbase giddy and the rest of the viewing audience groaning. Steph Curry was back in video game mode, hitting six of nine three-pointers and finishing with 29 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in 30 minutes. Kevin Durant followed suit, adding 16 points while enjoying the freedom that comes with not being guarded by the two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge was the prime candidate to carry the load in Leonard's absence, but nothing of the sort occurred. He had just one field goal in a first half that the Warriors led 72-44, and finished with just eight points. Jonathon Simmons (22 points) and Davis Bertans (13 points) were the only Spurs to score in double figures. San Antonio shot just 37% from the field.
"(Aldridge has) got to score," Popovich said. "Scoring has got to come from some place. I think he's got a major responsibility in Game 3 to come out and to get something done, whether it's for himself or teammates."
This was supposed to be a balanced matchup, the kind of tit-for-tat showdown that demanded your attention at every turn. It was two years in the making, with the juggernaut Warriors having somehow avoided a playoff matchup against the Spurs since the start of this incredible run back in 2014. But then Leonard’s ankle bent like a cheap silver spoon, once when he stepped on the foot of a teammate and again on the controversial shot on which he landed on the foot of Warriors big man Zaza Pachulia, and everything changed.
"It's not what I expected. I'm disappointed," Popovich said. "And the only way I can process this, I think it's not about O's and X's or rebounds or turnovers or anything like that. I think we maybe felt it too much, Kawhi being gone, in the sense that, as I watched, I don't think (the team) believed. You have to believe."
It was one thing to down the Houston Rockets in the semifinals without their franchise centerpiece – and the Spurs did just that down the stretch of Game 5 and for all of Game 6 – and quite another to survive against this Warriors roster that looks as if it was built with a cheat code.
You know that coach’s-speak saying about never letting go of the rope? Well, the Warriors used the rope to hogtie the Spurs in the kind of humbling way that surely won’t sit well between now and Game 3 in San Antonio on Saturday. The question then, of course, is whether they can get Leonard back and find a way to salvage this series.
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Popovich is unsure if Leonard will be ready to play by then, but he’s certainly hopeful. And considering it’s an unofficial closeout game of sorts – no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series – it’s safe to assume he’ll push his way back into action even if the ankle isn’t fully recovered.
“I have no idea,” Popovich said before the game when asked if Leonard would be available for Game 3. “(It) just depends on how the ankle heals. But the thing that worries me is that he did it again – the exact same thing. So one would logically think maybe it will take longer. But I’m hoping that’s not true and we’ll have him for Game 3. … I don’t think we’re going to know until Friday (or) Saturday, probably.”
As for the Warriors and their unblemished resume in the postseason, they’re now 10-0 with an average margin of victory of 17 points. Warriors reserve Andre Iguodala didn’t play because of left knee soreness, but he is likely to return in Game 3.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick
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