NBA Saturday Roundup: Only Spurs Can Now Thwart Warriors' Quest for Destiny
The Golden State Warriors' road to 73 wins—and a second straight NBA title—now runs through San Antonio.
Despite the Memphis Grizzlies' best attempt to spoil NBA history, the Warriors' bid for all-time greatness is still alive, if only by the hair on Stephen Curry's chinny-chin-chin. The reigning MVP shot just 3-of-14 from three, but he found other ways to keep the Dubs' quest for 73 alive in a 100-99 victory over a game Grizzlies squad in Tennessee.
By the time Curry hit his first three of the night during the third quarter (to extend his NBA-record streak to 150 straight games), he'd already racked up six of his eight assists.
Curry also grabbed nine rebounds to complement stellar efforts from Golden State's other starters.
Festus Ezeli, standing in for Andrew Bogut (rest), contributed nine points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Klay Thompson scored 20 points, though he was no warmer from three (2-of-10) than his Splash Brother. Harrison Barnes hit a big triple with less than two minutes to go, to give the Dubs their first lead since 65-63 in the third, as part of a 14-point outing.
No Warrior did more to save the day than Draymond Green. He led the team in points (23) and rebounds (11), harassed Zach Randolph (12 points) into a 6-of-19 shooting night and scored three crucial buckets down the stretch, including a tip-in off a missed Curry layup that was initially waived off for offensive interference but ultimately gave Golden State its final margin.
Green's desire and effort have been critical for the Warriors throughout this historic season. He confirmed as much to CSN's Rosalyn Gold-Onwude afterward:
Golden State needed every bit of Green's grit and grind to escape the FedEx Forum. The Grizzlies owned a 90-80 lead with just over six minutes to go, boosted by big games out of the blue from Matt Barnes (24 points, 15 rebounds and four assists) and Vince Carter (15 points, seven rebounds and four assists), in his first start of the season.
Of Memphis' M.A.S.H. unit, nobody inspired more confidence than rookie Xavier Munford, who finished with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a slew of Twitter puns.
And nobody gave Golden State more of a scare than Lance Stephenson, who probably should've been awarded shots to score more than his 13 points after getting hacked on Memphis' final possession.
With the referees' help, the Warriors remained perfect in defending potential game-winners this season.
Now, Golden State heads to the Alamo City to face the San Antonio Spurs, where a chance to tie the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls with win No. 72 awaits.
Golden State's stars may be weary after expecting to play no more than 32 minutes apiece in the River City. Then again, what could be more energizing than a chance to pull even with the NBA's most hallowed regular-season mark, at the expense of a likely postseason opponent?
"I want to be remembered as a winner," Green said following the victory in Memphis, per ESPN's Ethan Strauss.
Chances are, nobody on Golden State's roster remembers the last time the Warriors won in San Antonio. That came on Valentine's Day in 1997, 30 games into Gregg Popovich's tenure as the Spurs' head coach. Since then, the Warriors have lost 33 straight regular-season games in San Antonio.
The Spurs, meanwhile, have ripped off 48 consecutive victories at the AT&T Center, including an 87-79 result against Golden State last month. The Warriors, though, didn't have Bogut at their disposal that time. Nor were they three days removed from an impressive win over the Spurs in Oakland—or three days away from possibly putting Michael Jordan's Bulls in their rearview.
Still, as much as Sunday's matchup may matter to the record books, it'll pale in importance to any games between the league's elites in May. San Antonio is no lock to crack the conference finals, not with the Oklahoma City Thunder likely lurking in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
But if the Spurs get there, with Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge leading the way, they may be the league's last, best hope of preventing a Golden State championship repeat, barring a brilliant rebuttal by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Within the next 24 hours, we'll know if the Spurs can play spoilers themselves or if Golden State has enough left in the tank to put its stamp on the annals of NBA lore.
Millsap Helps Hawks Pull Ahead of Third-Place Pack
During the tight race for third place in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks now own a decisive leg up, thanks in large part to Paul Millsap.
"I see it as a big game for us," Millsap said before the contest, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. "It’s a big game for us in terms of standings. It’s a big game for us in terms of confidence. It’s a big game for us as far as playoffs. So we must approach it as such."
Clearly, Millsap did just that. The All-Star forward flummoxed the Boston Celtics' suspect frontcourt to the tune of 31 points and 16 rebounds in a 118-107 home win for the Hawks.
The pesky Celtics were well on their way to seizing control of the No. 3 seed. They rode a 15-4 spurt to an 87-75 lead halfway through the third quarter, fueled by a spate of frenetic play from Jae Crowder (16 points) and Marcus Smart (19 points).
The Hawks needed every ounce of Millsap's brilliance. He poured in 14 of his points and grabbed seven of his rebounds during Atlanta's game-closing 43-20 stretch. He was also key to a Hawks defensive effort that held the Cs to 36 points in the second half after surrendering 71 in the first. He finished with half of Atlanta's 10 blocks and snagged a pair of steals for good measure.
As a result, the Hawks will head to Cleveland on Monday and Washington on Wednesday with a game lead on the No. 3 seed and season tiebreakers over two (Boston and the Charlotte Hornets) of the three teams chasing them.
Suns Find Something to Play For
The Phoenix Suns' 2015-16 season was practically lost by January, but that hasn't rendered the rest of the campaign a completely pointless exercise. Those players who are still healthy enough to compete have done plenty to potentially shape the Suns' future, as they did in a 121-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Mirza Teletovic continued to make his case for a raise in Phoenix. The Bosnian bomber dropped 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting off the bench—his fourth 20-point outing in his last five—while extending his own NBA record for single-season triples by a reserve with four more.
With or without Teletovic's return, the Suns won't be short on perimeter threats next season. Devin Booker, Phoenix's fantastic rookie, needed just 11 shots to score 16 points, then he added four rebounds and five assists for good measure. Archie Goodwin, another Kentucky product, poured in a game-high 24 points off the pine.
Together, they helped the Suns snag their second-largest margin of victory this season and their first set of consecutive wins since early March.
With Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight due back from injury, another lottery pick on the way and a new coach who could be drawn from the collegiate ranks per Mitch Lawrence of Sporting News, the Suns should be nothing if not interesting to follow come 2016-17.
Wolves Catch KAT Scratch Fever
The Suns aren't the only Western Conference bottom feeder angling to end the season on an upswing. The Minnesota Timberwolves are well on their way to doing just that.
The Wolves silenced yet another raucous West Coast crowd with a 106-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.
Minnesota led by eight with less than two minutes to go before Damian Lillard (31 points, seven assists) and C.J. McCollum (21 points, seven assists) hit warp speed. Portland's backcourt pair scored or assisted on each of the team's final 19 points, including a four-point play from Lillard to put the Blazers up 105-104 with three seconds left.
The Timberpups didn't waste any time responding. Coming out of a 20-second timeout called by head coach Sam Mitchell, Ricky Rubio (five points, 11 assists, four steals) set up Karl-Anthony Towns (27 points, nine rebounds) in the post for a hook shot to give Minny the lead again.
Lillard's final desperation heave went wanting, and the Wolves escaped Rip City with their third straight win—their longest such streak since November. The Wolves will be flying high on their way home to close the 2015-16 campaign against the Houston Rockets and Pelicans, knowing their eye-opening road victories in Oakland and Portland could be just the beginning of something special in Minneapolis.
Bulls Clip Cavs to Stay Alive
When given the opportunity to put the Chicago Bulls out of their misery, LeBron James doesn't miss.
Or, at least, he hadn't until Saturday. James erupted for 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists, but his Cleveland Cavaliers fell just shy of knocking the Bulls out of postseason contention, 105-102.
Jimmy Butler (21 points, six assists and three steals) guided Chicago to a 97-84 fourth-quarter lead that his squad wouldn't relinquish. Pau Gasol (11 points, 12 rebounds) notched his 46th double-double. Nikola Mirotic (13 points) drained a trio of threes. Derrick Rose chipped in 10 points, and rookie Cristiano Felicio propped up the Bulls with a season-high 16 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting off the bench.
The Bulls, though, are hardly out of the woods as far as the playoffs are concerned. They'll need to win in New Orleans and at home against Philadelphia next week, and hope the Indiana Pacers lose out, to sneak into the East's top eight.
As for the Cavs, they'll clinch the conference's No. 1 seed with one more win or one more Toronto Raptors loss.
Kings End Era on a High Note
Sleep Train Arena, Arco Arena—call it whatever you want; just don't call it the home of the Sacramento Kings anymore. The team closed out 28 years at 1 Sports Parkway in California's capital with a 114-112 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Seth Curry (20 points) hit five of his six threes in the first half. Darren Collison led the way throughout with team-highs in points (27) and assists (eight). Fittingly enough, DeMarcus Cousins (15 points on 7-of-24 shooting, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block) said goodbye to his stomping grounds by fouling out with more than three minutes left to play.
The Thunder had their opportunities to sour the proceedings and secure a 55th win. Kevin Durant (31 points, eight assists, six rebounds) tied the score at 101-101 with a pair of free throws after Cousins drew his sixth foul.
Russell Westbrook (24 points, 10 assists, five rebounds) evened things back up at 112-112 by draining three freebies of his own following what Sacramento's James Anderson had hoped would be a take foul for two.
But on the Kings' final possession, the Thunder couldn't stop Rudy Gay (24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, four steals, two blocks) from getting to the rack with Serge Ibaka swiping at him. Gay hit two foul shots of his own and Westbrook's 52-foot Hail Mary went unanswered before the buzzer.
And thus did Sacramento, on a night packed with tributes to the franchise's most beloved contributors, get to celebrate one last time before moving into the Golden 1 Center next season.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@JoshMartinNBA), Instagram and Facebook.
