The Warriors took full advantage of Kawhi Leonard’s absence, bombing the uninspired Spurs with 18 three-pointers en route to a 136-100 trouncing that gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
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“It’s a long series”, Mills told reporters. “You’ve got to come out with that edge”, he said.
“Just seeing if I can run and at least be myself on the court”, Leonard said. “It’s not that we are satisfied with that or we feel that we are finding excuses, those are the reasons I find, and I am not proud of it, but that’s over”.
Leonard was named first-team All-NBA on Thursday. One of those on the side demanding retribution is Texas native Juan Vasquez, who has taken the unusual and extreme step of suing both the Warriors and Pachulia himself for injuring the Spurs star player.
Neither Draymond Green nor Stephen Curry seemed too anxious on Thursday about their center’s mindset heading into hostile territory Saturday night. Leonard went down just over halfway through that game and his status for Game 3 remains undecided.
“Our offense was a little stagnant at times”, Leonard said.
Mills said the emotion the Spurs felt from losing Leonard in what Popovich described as a risky and unsportsmanlike play by Warriors’ centre Zaza Pachulia should have fired up his team, not subdued them. They are 10-0 in the playoffs this year and could match the best start in National Basketball Association playoff history with a victory in game three Saturday at San Antonio.
Ginobili acknowledged that in Game 2 on Tuesday, the Spurs wallowed in their bad luck a bit too much.
Don’t miss a thing. Don’t want to hobble around or shoot off-balance shots. He’s working with them and trying to get that ankle right. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m being bullied by Oakland PD or San Francisco PD in my own building, my own parking lot.’ So I start to go a little bit and another one pulls up: ‘Hey, you, you heard him, stop!’ Leonard was also sidelined in Game 2. LaMarcus Aldridge continues to struggle, scoring just eight points in Game 2 after his meltdown in Game 1’s closing quarter.
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They remember watching the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate at Oracle after a Game 7 win in the 2016 Finals. The Spurs can’t afford to fall into a 3-0 series deficit, so with their backs now against the wall, I’m backing the Spurs to come out fighting and pull out the upset at home.
