Warriors blow 14-point lead to Spurs, lose grasp on Western Conference playoff picture
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors didn’t need this one, but it would have made it a whole lot easier.
Golden State started fast, its stars played their best basketball after halftime but still wasn’t able to put away what looked to be the easiest game left on its schedule.
Despite scoring the first 11 points of the game, the first six of the second half and getting 58 combined points from Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors fell Wednesday night to the San Antonio Spurs, 114-111, packing more pressure onto their final two contests.
Without any help, the Warriors will need to win both their final games against the Trail Blazers and Clippers to clinch the No. 6 seed and avoid the dreaded play-in tournament. They travel to Portland on Friday and host Los Angeles in their regular-season finale on Sunday.
The Warriors led by as many as 14 points in the second half but were tied at 111 with 3.1 seconds left on the clock when the ball found the hands of Harrison Barnes, who put up a prayer from 3-point territory that fell through the net as the buzzer sounded.
Golden State had possession in a tied game with with 32.6 seconds left, but Barnes came up big again, intercepting Curry’s inbound pass and setting up a layup from Keon Johnson that put San Antonio up 111-109. Draymond Green sank a pair of free throws and San Antonio called timeout, setting up the final possession.
Curry finished with a game-high 30 points, Butler poured in 28 points and Green filled the statsheet with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. But it wasn’t enough to beat the Spurs, who had lost eight of their previous nine games entering Wednesday, including a 148-106 rout last week in San Antonio.
Golden State got off to a fast start from the opening tip, and it looked like the Warriors might be in for a win reminiscent of their road rout. The Warriors forced the Spurs to miss their first six attempts from the field and jumped out to an 11-0 lead. They held a 32-23 advantage at the end of the first period.
The game was the Warriors’ sixth in four cities in the past eight days, and they fell to 8-6 in the second half of a back-to-back. Their 133-95 win the previous night in Phoenix meant none of Curry, Butler or Green had to log more than 25 minutes.
They didn’t have the same luxury against the Spurs, who climbed all the way back from their cold start to take a 55-51 lead into the locker room. San Antonio didn’t go away after halftime, falling behind by as many as 14 points but pulling all the way back to make it a fresh ballgame with 5 minutes left.