Warriors Today: The 'Real' season begins against the Spurs

THE ESSENTIALS

Game 1 Tipoff: Noon Saturday at Oracle Arena. TV: ABC. Radio: KGMZ 95.7 “The Game” in Oakland and San Francisco, KRTY 95.3 in San Jose, KION 1460 and 101.1 in Salinas and Monterey.

REMAINING SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 2: Monday vs. San Antonio, 7:30 p.m. TNT
Game 3: Thursday at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. TNT
Game 4: Sunday at San Antonio, 12:30 p.m. ABC
Game 5: Tuesday vs. San Antonio, TBA
Game 6: Thursday at San Antonio, TBA
Game 7: Saturday vs. San Antonio, TBA

REGULAR-SEASON RECORDS

Warriors: 58-24, No. 2 in the Western Conference.
Spurs: 47-35, No. 7 in the Western Conference.

SEASON SERIES

The Warriors won the season series 3-1. … On Nov. 2 at San Antonio, the Warriors blitzed the Spurs in the second half en route to a 112-92 victory. The Warriors outscored the Spurs 62-37 in the third and fourth quarters and outshot San Antonio 54.5 percent to 35.9 percent. They held the Spurs to 0 for 6 on 3-pointers after a 7-for-18 first half. Perhaps the biggest number was Golden State’s five turnovers for the half, that led to only four points. Klay Thompson scored 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Kevin Durant missed his first eight shots, but finished with 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting. San Antonio was without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker. … On Feb. 10, Golden State overcame another slow start and defeated San Antonio 122-105. The Warriors gave up 37 points in the first quarter before waking up and holding the Spurs to 38 in the next two periods while scoring 64 themselves to turn a 37-27 deficit into a 91-75 lead heading into the fourth. Thompson scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, including a jump-out-your-seat dunk in the third quarter. … On March 8, Golden State won 110-107 at Oracle Arena despite losing Stephen Curry early in the game to a sprained right ankle. Durant carried Golden State in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 consecutive Warriors points in a span of 4:21 to pull them even at 105-105 after they had trailed by eight. Durant finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. … On March 19, LaMarcus Aldridge single-handedly wiped out Golden State’s lead by scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter as San Antonio won 89-75 at the AT&T Center. Quinn Cook led the Warriors with 20 points, his third consecutive game of 20 or more. Golden State was without Curry, Thompson and Durant.

PLAYOFF HISTORY

The Warriors and Spurs have met in the playoffs three times. … In the first round in 1991, the Warriors won a best-of-five series 3-1 after losing the opener at home. For the series, the Run TMC trio of Tim Hardaway (23.3 points, 9.3 assists), Mitch Richmond (22.3 points) and Chris Mullin (25.3 points) combined for 70.8 points per game. For good measure, Sarunas Marciulionis averaged 17.3 off the bench. David Robinson averaged 25.8 points 13.5 rebounds for the Spurs. … In the 2013 Western Conference semifinals, San Antonio won the series 4-2. Game 1 was an epic 129-127 Spurs victory in double overtime. Kent Bazemore had scored on a layup to give the Warriors a 127-126 lead with 3.9 seconds left, but Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to win it. Curry had 44 points and 11 assists. The Warriors came back and won Game 2 100-91 to steal homecourt advantage, but San Antonio got it right back with a 102-92 triumph in Game 3 at Oracle Arena. The Spurs clinched in Game 6 on the road 94-82. For the series Tony Parker and Curry each averaged 22.5 points per game. … Last season, the Warriors swept San Antonio 4-0 in the Western Conference finals. The series turned in Game 1, when the Warriors roared back from a 25-point deficit, aided by the absence of Leonard, and won 113-111 at Oracle Arena. Leonard was injured when Zaza Pachulia stepped into Leonard’s landing zone on a jump shot. Leonard came down on Pachulia’s foot and sprained his left ankle. That came with 7:55 left in the third quarter and San Antonio in front 78-55. Up until then, Leonard was the best player on the floor with 26 points and eight rebounds. But as soon as he left the game, Golden State went on an 18-0 run. Leonard missed the rest of the series.

THE REAL SEASON

This is the moment the Warriors have been waiting for since training camp began. They have finally made it through the 82-game, mind-numbing, concentration-draining grind of the regular season. Now they get to play games that really count. But can the Warriors really turn in the afterburners after gliding for most of the past eight months?

MISSING SOME STAR POWER

Curry has missed the past 10 Warriors games because of a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee suffered March 23 against Atlanta. Before that Hawks game, he had missed the previous six games because of a right ankle sprain suffered in the March 2 game against the Spurs. During that 17-game stretch with Curry sidelined for all but that victory over Atlanta, the Warriors were 7-10. Curry averaged 26.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists in the 51 games he did play this season. The Warriors were 41-10 with Curry and 17-14 without him.

ALSO MISSING SOME STAR POWER

The Spurs also will be without their best player. Leonard, one of the finest all-around players in basketball, has been plagued all season by right quadriceps tendinopathy. The ailment has cost him 73 games this season. He missed the first 27 games of the season and the final 38. In between, he played in nine games, with his last appearance coming Jan. 13 against Denver. He averaged only 16.2 points in 23.3 minutes per game this season, but was probably missed more for his stellar defense.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

The Warriors’ frontcourt vs. Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge: With Leonard gone virtually the entire season (remember, he averaged 25.5 points last season), the bulk of San Antonio’s offensive responsibility has fallen to Aldridge, who responded with an All-Star season. He averaged 23.1 points and shot 51.0 percent in 75 games. Forcing the ball out of Aldridge’s hands and making other Spurs score wouldn’t be the worst strategy for the Warriors.

X-FACTOR

Danny Green could be the guy who can take some pressure off Aldridge. He always seems to be the guy for the Spurs who can hit the big 3-pointer, especially in the playoffs. He has bounced back and forth from the starting lineup to the bench this season, but has started the last two games as coach Gregg Popovich has opted for a lineup of Aldridge, Pau Gasol and three guards: Green, Patty Mills and Dejountey Murray.

TAKING ADVANTAGE

How often will the Spurs catch an advantage by getting the Warriors’ inexperienced 6-foot-2 point guard Quinn Cook to switch into a favorable (for them) matchup? Late in the season, we started to see teams — New Orleans and Utah — force Cook to switch to a bigger player who can post him up or simply shoot over him.

NO HOME OR ROAD BIAS

The Warriors were 29-12 at home and 29-12 on the road this season. Those are the worst home and away records for the Warriors in Steve Kerr’s four seasons with Golden State. Heck, in those first three seasons the Warriors averaged only 13 losses for the entire season.

21 AND COUNTING

The Spurs kept their playoff streak alive when they qualified for the postseason for the 21st consecutive season. The last time San Antonio missed the playoffs was in the 1996-97 season when David Robinson missed 76 games because of a back injury. San Antonio then won the NBA draft lottery and selected Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick. The rest is NBA history.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Kerr has been liberally employing his centers late this season, choosing to prioritize matchups. Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Kevon Looney all have made starts since the All-Star break. With the Spurs likely to start Aldridge and Gasol, Kerr’s best bets would be Pachulia, Public Enemy No. 1 in San Antonio for his role in ending Leonard’s season in the 2017 Western Conference finals, or McGee.

BEWARE OF …

Second-year Spurs point guard Murray is earning quite the reputation for his defense. Standing 6-5 with a reported armspan of 7 feet, Murray will get to show off his prowess against Thompson in this series. Besides his defense, Murray is also one of the best rebounding guards in the league. In 48 games as a starter, Murray is averaging 10.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.56 steals in 26.1 minutes

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