A collective tremor hit the San Antonio crowd, dreading the threat of a close game from that point onward, until the Spurs finally started hitting shots to retake control. It helped that Giannis Antetokounmpo (21 points, 10 rebounds, 10-19 FG%, 2 turnovers) finally scored under 30 points, missing shots early that he hadn't missed before in this series.
In the 4th Quarter, the Spurs finally had enough, walloping the Warriors, 40-21, scoring well past the hundred point mark. Steph Curry had 18 points with 12 assists, but did not hit a 3PTer. Kevin Knox, II, scored 16 points. Andrew Wiggins, as all series long, struggled on a 3-10 performance. DeAndre Jordan had 17 points, 19 rebounds, having definitely fit in well with the Warriors this season in retrospect. Golden State had 18 turnovers, as their high from Game 4 wore off with sloppy execution tonight.
Brandon Ingram had 29 points, 9 rebounds & 9 assists with 3 steals and 2 blocks. Fred VanVleet lit up the Warriors with seven 3PT daggers, scoring 25 points with 3 steals. Evan Fournier also had 19 points & 7 assists, hitting 5 from deep and utilizing his step-back mid-range jumper. Dejounte Murray had 17 points & 8 assists. Andre Drummond had 11 points, 10 rebounds with 3 blocks. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 10 points and P.J. Tucker hit three clutch 3PT shots to keep the Spurs ship afloat during the Warriors brief, as did Alex Caruso with 7 points of his own with 2 steals.
With this series now in the rear-view, it must be said how nice it was to see the Warriors back to form, sans Klay Thompson. Giannis Antetokounmpo definitely looks ready to carry the Curry torch one day, but it also appears as though Andrew Wiggins may not be fit to be that 3rd option for the team. With his dour performance in this series, it may be hard for the Warriors to trade him and receive value in return. Kevin Knox, II, also came on nicely for his new team. "They'll be back, no doubt," Coach Popovich said post-game about the Warriors. "I had enough traumatic flashbacks for this season, though", the Spurs coach joked, referencing the much tougher Warriors teams of yesteryear.
The Spurs shot 50% from the 3PT line, and that is hard to beat. Without Klay Thompson's services, the Warriors only hit 3 shots from long range in this game, so his absence will definitely need replacing ASAP, despite some 3PT improvement by The Greek Freak this season. It also appears that Curry may be exiting his peak, so clearly moves need to be made for next year. Meanwhile, the Spurs move on!
