Spurs 104, Warriors 102
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Center Tiago Splitter tipped in forward Boris Diaw's miss with 2.1 seconds remaining, giving the San Antonio Spurs, playing without guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and forward Tim Duncan a stunning 104-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
The dramatic win capped a 6-1 stretch in which the Spurs played six road games in a 10-day period. The sequence included three back-to-backs, including one that began with a 108-101 win at Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Parker missed both games of the back-to-back after suffering a bruised shin in Monday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Duncan and Ginobili were merely getting a rest.
"Seven in 10 days, that's ridiculous," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich observed before the game. "Having played three teams that run (the Clippers, Suns and Warriors), a back-to-back ... We're going to get home at 4:30 (a.m.). Let's see ... How smart do you have to be to rest a couple of guys that are older than dirt?"
As it turned out, the Spurs didn't need their Big Three thanks to a 41-13 scoring advantage from their depleted bench.
After Warriors point guard Stephen Curry tied the game at 102 with 28.7 seconds left, the Spurs appeared to miss their opportunity for a regulation win when guard Marco Belinelli misfired from the left side.
But Splitter won a battle with Warriors center Andrew Bogut for the rebound, deflecting it to Diaw as he was knocking Bogut to the floor.
Diaw couldn't convert from short range, but with Bogut still on the ground, Splitter reached over the rim for his game-winning tip-in.
Curry misfired on a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the Warriors to their third loss in the last four games.
Belinelli came off the bench to lead the Spurs (21-5) with 28 points. Small forward Kawhi Leonard added 21 points and point guard Patty Mills, starting in Parker's place, poured in 20 points.
Power forward David Lee had a 32-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Warriors (14-13), while Curry matched his career-high with 15 assists to go with 30 points. Bogut finished with 18 rebounds, and Klay Thompson contributed 13 points.
The Spurs led 82-74 entering the final period, but an energetic defensive effort spearheaded by Warriors guards Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green helped vault Golden State into an 86-all tie in the fourth minute of the quarter. San Antonio had only one field goal in that stretch, missing five of six shots and committing four turnovers.
Neither team led by more than three after that.
The Spurs put themselves in a position to win by dominating stretches of the second and third quarters, during which a 14-point deficit turned into as many as a nine-point lead.
The Warriors' Lee had four points in a 10-0 Warriors burst midway through the first quarter as Golden State established early dominance at 23-11.
The advantage reached 34-20 three minutes into the second quarter, but the Spurs began to turn things around with a 12-0 burst that featured eight consecutive points, including a pair of 3-pointers, by shooting guard Danny Green.
When Leonard hit a short jumper at the 5:19 mark of the period, the Spurs had their first lead of the night at 39-38.
San Antonio led by two at halftime, then extended the margin to 75-66 behind the hot shooting of Belinelli. The former first-round pick of the Warriors had 17 third-quarter points, including three 3-pointers, almost single-handedly propelling the Spurs into an 82-74 advantage at period's end.
NOTES: PG Tony Parker, PF Tim Duncan and SG Manu Ginobili also sat out the Spurs' 116-106 loss to the Warriors in Oakland late last season. The Spurs went 1-2 last year when the trio didn't play. ... The Spurs had two stretches in November in which they played seven games in 11 days. The first (Nov. 1-11) started in Los Angeles and ended in Philadelphia, with two home games in the middle. ... With San Antonio G Patty Mills and C Aron Baynes making their first starts of the season, the game featured three Australian starters (including Warriors C Andrew Bogut), a first in NBA history. ... The Warriors also had three players out of the lineup -- backup centers Jermaine O'Neal (wrist surgery), Festus Ezeli (knee surgery) and Ognjen Kuzmic (broken hand). ... The game attracted the Warriors' 50th consecutive sellout to Oracle Arena.
