Warriors shut down Spurs to seal series
The Golden State Warriors responded to their first loss of the postseason with a championship-type defensive effort Tuesday night, suffocating the San Antonio Spurs 99-91 to complete a 4-1 win in the first round of the NBA playoffs at Oakland, Calif.
The defending champions, seeded second in the West this year, advance to a Western Conference semifinal matchup with the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans, who scored a surprising four-game sweep of the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
The best-of-seven series will open in Oakland on Saturday, with Golden State holding the home-court advantage. The Warriors won the season series 3-1 over New Orleans, although the Pelicans prevailed in the most recent meeting, 126-120 in Oakland on April 7.
Kevin Durant had a team-high 25 points Tuesday, Klay Thompson 24 and Draymond Green a 17-point, 19-rebound double-double for the Warriors, who won their 12th consecutive home playoff game.
Thompson hit five shots in a row, including a 3-pointer, in an 11-point second quarter, helping the Warriors run out to a 49-38 halftime advantage.
The Spurs, seeking to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series for the first time in the Gregg Popovich era, fell 16 points back late in the third quarter before making a furious rally down the stretch.
Two free throws by LaMarcus Aldridge got San Antonio within 93-91 with 57.2 seconds to play, but Durant countered with an 18-footer with 36.1 seconds left, and the Spurs never scored again.
Durant and Green hit a pair of free throws each in the final 24 seconds to ice Golden State's fourth consecutive first-round series win.
Popovich missed his third straight game following the death of his wife, Erin. Assistant Ettore Messina coach the team.
San Antonio's 91-point total equaled its lowest in the postseason since being held to 90 in Game 1 of a first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks in 2014.
Coming off a 4-for-16 shooting effort in Game 4, Thompson hit 11 of 22 shots in Game 5. The Warriors outshot the Spurs 44.6 percent to 37.2 percent.
Golden State won despite shooting just 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) on 3-pointers. The Spurs weren't much better, making 7 of 30 (23.3 percent).
Aldridge had a game-high 30 points and Patty Mills 18 for the Spurs, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for just the fifth time in the past 21 years.
Aldridge completed his fourth straight double-double with a team-high 12 rebounds.
Manu Ginobili and Kyle Anderson added 10 points apiece for San Antonio.
--Field Level Media
