1) For a game, it looked as if the Spurs had figured out the secret to bottling up Stephen Curry. In the loss at San Antonio, Greg Popovich ordered his players to smother (read: grab, hold, shove) Curry on the perimeter and sent wave after wave of second defenders at him out high to thwart his deep shots and slow his drives through the paint. Curry finished that game with only 14 points on a horrific 1-of-12 shooting from deep. After the loss, Curry admitted he could’ve done a better job of attacking the rim.
2) Apparently, Curry remembered his own advice. The MVP gored the Spurs aggressive perimeter defense last night, repeatedly getting into the lane for layups and floaters. Unlike in the March 19 contest, Curry was in control of himself and the offense the entire game. In the instances where the Spurs managed to stall his attacks, Curry would dish the ball to Draymond for an open shot or toss the rock to Bogut on a lob. Steph finished with 27 points, 9 assists, and 1 rejuvenated swagger. (Oh, and when everything else failed, Curry was still able to do things like this.)
3) The Warriors were up by 15 early in the second quarter. But now that the “Rule of 15” streak has ended, is it still a thing? Is it safe to feel confident about 15-point leads again?
4) After getting beasted by Lamarcus Aldridge for 26 points in San Antonio, Draymond had a standout defensive performance in Round 3. Dray was able to body up on LMA and force him into tough turnaround jumpers and crowded paint attempts. Aldridge finished with 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting. I wonder what social media platform he’ll delete after this poor showing. (To be fair, he was limited by a dislocated finger).
5) Turnovers kept the Spurs from getting completely blown out. After six giveaways in the game’s first six minutes, the Warriors were able to limit the gaffes to only nine in the final 42 minutes. Which is better, but imagine the final score had the Warriors not succumbed to a few bouts of careless, low-percentage home run passes.
6) The Spurs were content with allowing Harrison Barnes to shoot (and miss). But credit HB, dude wasn’t bothered by the semi-Tony Allen treatment and came through with 21 points and 8 boards. And the Dubs were able to get away with him guarding Aldridge for a few minutes after Dray picked up his second foul (and tech) and had to be benched. Barnes has quietly been really good offensively in the last five games with averages of 16 points and 43.8% shooting from distance.
7) I’m a Warriors fan, sure, but it still made me sad to see Tim Duncan (4 points, 19 minutes) get his hook shot blocked by Andrew Bogut (6 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks).
8) The NBA in 2016 is great. “Sources: Spurs plan regular lineup vs. Warriors” was an actual headline that I cared about before the game.
9) Andre Igoudala still doesn’t look quite himself on offense (though he did have a nice throw down on the break) but his lightning quick hands were a welcome showing on D. Dre stripped the ball from Kawhi Leonard and Duncan in the paint to turn four easy Spurs points into transition attacks the other way.
10) With win no. 70, the Dubs have secured home-court throughout the playoffs. They now have three more games for a chance at basketball immortality. And it sounds like they want it.