Warriors 100, Spurs 91
SAN ANTONIO -- Klay Thompson had a career-high 34 points, 29 in the first half, to give the Golden State Warriors a 100-91 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night, tying up the series 1-1.
A game after Stephen Curry had a franchise playoff-record 44 points in Game 1, Thompson joined him in the Golden State record book.
Thompson hit seven 3-pointers and was 11-for-18 on his way to a Warriors record 29 first-half points. He also finished with 12 rebounds.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, Golden State had a 19-point lead over the second-seeded Spurs, 62-43.
Curry added 22 points, Harrison Barnes 13 and Carl Landry 10 as the sixth-seeded Warriors shot 11 of 23 from the 3-point line.
Andrew Bogut added 11 rebounds.
The win erased the heartbreaking, double-overtime loss to San Antonio on Monday night, and it ended the 30-game losing streak on the Spurs' home court that dated back to February 14, 1997.
The Spurs, who had a miracle comeback crawling from 16 down with four minutes to win Monday, tried to repeat that performance.
They cut a 20-point second-half lead to six when Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer with two minutes left in the fourth to make it 95-89.
But this time the Warriors held on.
Curry answered, scoring the final five points of the game for the Warriors and securing the win.
San Antonio struggled offensively, only hitting 5 of 21 from the 3-point line (24 percent), while shooting 39 percent from the field.
The Spurs played from behind for most of the game after holding a three-point lead the first four minutes of the game.
This was the first loss the Spurs have had in the playoffs.
Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 23 points, while Tony Parker adding 20 and Danny Green 10. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili, the hero on Monday night, had 12.
Game 3 will be Friday at Golden State.
NOTES: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich finished in fourth place for Coach of the Year in this year's voting. Popovich won the award last year, the second of his career. Warriors coach Mark Jackson finished seventh, while Denver coach George Karl won the award. ... Curry's 44-point, 11-assist night on Monday was the first 40/10 playoff performance since Michael Jordan in 1990. ... Duncan, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, are the only players in NBA postseason history to record 4,000 points, 2,000 rebounds, 600 assists and 450 blocked shots. ... Asked before the game about his review of the last four minutes of Game 1 and his assessment on giving up a 16-point lead, Jackson replied, "I just told somebody that basically the screaming lady on TNT, she took the words right out of my mouth."
