The Golden State Warriors overcame a 25-point first-half deficit for a thrilling 113-111 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, setting the stage for what is shaping up to be another great series. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the game:
1) Kawhi Leonard needs to stay healthy for the Spurs to have a chance
Everything changed in Game 1 when Leonard re-aggravated the sprained ankle he suffered last series against the Rockets.
Likely to be plenty of postgame chatter about Zaza sliding under Kawhi, especially if Warriors win pic.twitter.com/ygSdG01UAq
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 14, 2017
San Antonio was up 23 points at the time, but immediately fell apart and let the Warriors back in the game without him. Golden State went on an 18-0 run right after Kawhi was taken out of the game and outscored the Spurs by 25 points over the final 17 minutes. San Antonio's offense looked dysfunctional without their go-to guy, and it totally changed what they were doing defensively.
Instead of having Leonard and Jonathon Simmons on Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, San Antonio had to pick their poison - and Curry took advantage (more on that in a second). San Antonio showed in this game that, without Kawhi, they don't have a chance.
2) Stephen Curry is still Golden State's alpha dog
Curry scored 19 of his 40 points in that game-changing third quarter, and while he did play a major factor in that 18-0 run, most of his points in the period came before Kawhi was hurt. He singlehandedly kept pace with the Spurs to start the second half, allowing that comeback to happen. And, when the game got close at the end, it was Curry who hit the big shots.
If at first you don't succeed ... pic.twitter.com/Hd9Kx2UrBo
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) May 14, 2017
Curry's clutch jumper seals Game 1 for the @warriors.
— NBA (@NBA) May 14, 2017
He drops 40 PTS in the win. KD adds 34 PTS in the comeback.
LA: 28 PTS / 8 REB. pic.twitter.com/43IdftEfcW
The Warriors have enough talented weapons that they can usually just ride the hot hand. However, when they were in trouble in their biggest game of the season, their leader stepped up and carried them.
3) No lead is safe in this series
This is the most obvious takeaway after San Antonio blew that 25-point first half lead and 23-point lead halfway through the third quarter. Yet, that's not the first time the Warriors have erased a massive deficit against the Spurs this year. In Golden State's lone regular season win over the Spurs, they erased a 22-point first quarter deficit.
To their credit, San Antonio also almost erased a five-point deficit with just 30 seconds left as well. This is going to be a close series where both teams trade punches throughout the course of a game. Don't expect there to be any blowouts.
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