Warriors sweep Spurs, advance to NBA Finals with historic 12-0 record
SAN ANTONIO – You knew it was over when Steph Curry put on his wizard’s hat in the first quarter.
Sure, it was just four minutes in. And yes, the score of Game 4 in the Western Conference finals was still in single digits.
But there was something about the way the Golden State Warriors star dribbled around the San Antonio Spurs’ Jonathon Simmons, faking left and spinning right and throwing up that prayer off the glass that somehow found net as he fell to the floor. The blue and yellow highlight reel had begun, and it wouldn’t stop until their 129-115 win against these ailing Spurs was over.
The Finals formality was complete. And now, with the third consecutive meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers still looming large despite their Game 3 stumble against Boston on Sunday, the Warriors’ pursuit of perfection continues.
In sweeping the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs, the Warriors became the first team in NBA history to enter the finals undefeated (12-0) since the league went to the current playoff format in 2003. Yet as they learned last season, when the history made in their 73-win season was rendered irrelevant after they blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals, what happens at the end is all that truly matters.
"No one remembers second place," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "No one cares who lost in the Finals. It's about winning. We're there, that's the first step, now it's about winning."
The Spurs’ best chance at upsetting this Warriors super team was eliminated in Game 1, when Leonard came down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot and his ankle injury ended his season. Three games later, when the Spurs could do little to slow the likes of Curry (36 points, six assists, and five rebounds), Kevin Durant (29 points, 12 rebounds) and Green (16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists), the real meaning of their final had everything to do with the beloved Manu Ginobili, who coach Gregg Popovich placed in the starting lineup "out of respect."
The 39-year-old Spurs legend hasn’t announced his retirement, but he sure sounded like a man who will likely hang them up in recent days. So despite the late deficit, and the hopeless Spurs prospects in the series itself, the sellout crowd shared its appreciation for Ginobili until the end.
When Ginobili checked out for the final time with 2:54 remaining, almost every player on the court was clapping. The fans chanted “Manu, Manu,” and then an homage to his Argentinian roots with “Ole, ole, ole, ole…” Finally, it was “Let’s go Manu.” And go he might. As Ginobili walked through the tunnel to the Spurs locker room amid a chorus of adulation, he kissed his fist and pointed to the sky.
"Pretty hard to describe," Ginobili said of those final minutes. "It was kind of emotional and overwhelming. I don't have a lot of words to describe it, but of course it makes me feel really well, feeling that type of appreciation, love, respect — it's something that we all can appreciate."
The Spurs now find themselves facing the possible end of an era – again.
With Tim Duncan having retired last summer, Ginobili possibly hanging up his sneakers this offseason and Tony Parker’s quadriceps tendon tear suffered in the second round making his future murky, the day they always dreaded might be near. And while Leonard is as good a young centerpiece as you’ll find in today’s NBA, the key question going forward is who will be at his side in the years to come.
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LaMarcus Aldridge’s poor play when it mattered most will fuel the offseason discussion about his place in San Antonio’s program, with rival teams surely wondering whether there’s a trade to be had in the next few months. Aldridge, the 31-year-old who averaged just 11.3 points in the final three games after Leonard went down, has one season remaining on his deal ($21.4 million) and can opt out in the summer of 2018. Leonard, who is signed through the summer of 2019, is eligible for a five-year, $217 million super max extension next summer and will surely want to have clarity about their new core by then.
It remains to be seen how much salary cap space the Spurs have to spend this summer, with the possible range between approximately $4 million and $22 million (although a possible Parker retirement would greatly increase that number). Forward Pau Gasol has a player option ($16.1 million), reserve center Dewayne Dedmon has a player option ($3 million), reserve forward David Lee has a player option that he’ll likely exercise given his season-ending leg injury against the Warriors ($2.3 million), reserve guard Patty Mills is an unrestricted free agent and emerging shooting guard Jonathon Simmons is a restricted free agent.
Longtime general manager R.C. Buford and Popovich will work on the personnel puzzle together as they always do, but it’s clear they need upgrades to keep pace with the Warriors. They remain elite, having won a franchise-record 67 regular season games in 2015-16 and 61 in the latest campaign. But in the wake of their 2014 title that featured a 22-year-old Leonard as Finals MVP, the talent gap remains.
Yet even if the 35-year-old Parker comes back, the emergence of rookie point guard Dejounte Murray is the latest sign of how the Spurs seem to always find a way. The Washington product was drafted 29th overall, and already has some opposing scouts believing he’s good enough to be their point guard of the future (he had nine points and seven assists in Game 4, with a Spurs playoff record five steals).
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick
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