Game 4: Golden State Warriors 90-103 San Antonio Spurs - 5 Talking Points

Manu ta
Manu takes over!

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:

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#5 Low-scoring first half for the Warriors

Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs-Game Four
Durant and Aldridge tussle for the ball

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.

#4 The disparity between the teams in 3-point shooting

Klay T
Klay Thompson couldn't get going tonight

The Golden State Warriors finished the regular season with the highest field goal percentage (50.3%), highest 3-point shooting percentage (39.1%) and the highest free throw percentage (81.5%). They carried the same shooting form into the playoffs, and it made an impact in the first 3 games.

In game 4, however, they did not have the Klay-off (Klay going off from 3-point territory), resulting in only 7 made 3-pointers out of 28 attempts. Draymond Green was really wasteful, missing a number of crucial 3-pointers to go 0-for-6 from downtown.

Klay himself shot poorly by his standards, going 2-of-6. The only shooter from Golden State to register a relatively okay 3-point shooting night was Kevin Durant, who took 13 tries for 4 makes.

The Spurs, on the other hand, finally started making 3-pointers this series. After finishing the first 3 games with a 3-point percentage of 24.6%, they made 15 out of 28 tries on the night for a great shooting night overall.

#3 Kevin Durant had a relatively poor night by his standards

Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs-Game Four
KD failed to stamp his mark on the game

Durant put up a stat line of 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists - a stat line that nearly every current NBA player would kill to have in a high-stakes playoff game. Dig deeper, however, and you find that you need additional numbers to tell the story.

Durant shot 12-of-28 from the field for a 42.86% field goal conversion rate - not ideal for a player who had a really high usage rate on the night.

Despite being the primary ballhandler for much of the night, Durant logged 2 assists only, as compared to the 3 occasions that he turned the ball over. A couple of times he was let down by his teammates who missed shots, but it was clear that Durant wasn't having the best night as a playmaker.

He was also out of position in defense on many occasions. Usually guarding from the weak side, Durant gave up a number of open corner 3s, a region from which the Spurs got a number of points on the night.

The reigning Finals MVP needs to raise his game further and be a better playmaker for the rest of the postseason.

#2 The Spurs' role players came to play

Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs-Game Four
Rudy Gay played his part

Gone AWOL nearly all season long, Danny Green, a reigning All-Defensive 2nd team selection came to play on the night. He stoutly contested Klay Thompson, who he was reassigned to from Kevin Durant and did a much better defensive job on. Thompson, an All-Star, ended up with only 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Dejounte Murray played with heart and aggression and knocked down open 3-pointers when he had the chance. He finished with 12 points on 8 shots, scoring on three out of his four 3-point attempts.

Patty Mills, despite shooting only 3-of-8 on the night, moved the ball adeptly and had 5 assists to his name and the team's highest +/- of +21. Rudy Gay, who started the night as well, had 14 points and 7 rebounds to go with a +/- of +16.

Tony Parker, who was mostly relegated to first-half minutes, had an impact as well. He scored 9 points in 16 minutes or so off the bench, while Kyle Anderson shot 4-of-4 from the field and finished with 10.

#1 LaMarcus Aldridge and Manu Ginobili led San Antonio to victory

Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs-Game Four
Ginobili iced the game with a late 3-pointer

It goes without saying that a Hall-of-Fame glue guy and hustler like Manu Ginobili will be loved by one and all. What doesn't go without saying is the fact that Manu, at the ripe NBA-old age of 40 years, still has the ability to beat all-time great teams like the Golden State Warriors on his night. It is this enduring value of his that sets him apart from most other players of his ilk.

A perfect living example for the adage "Form is temporary, class is permanent", Ginobili scored 16 points and dished out 5 assists on the night while putting his legs through 25 minutes of high-energy playoff basketball. He put the exclamation point on the victory with his last bucket - a corner 3 that took the score to 103-90 in favor of the Spurs.

LaMarcus Aldridge was an all-round force, and there was precious little that Golden State could do to stop him. Among his many unfathomably brilliant plays was a baseline rainbow jumper while being triple-teamed by Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, and Andre Iguodala - who're all All-World defenders in their own right. He also had a legitimate "How-did-he-do-that!" moment, banking in a 3-pointer from 27 feet.

Aldridge finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, a steal and a block while bearing the brunt of Golden State's defensive attention.

These were the 2 stars who put the Spurs over the line on a night to remember for Alamo City basketball fans.

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Edited by Raunak J