Game Preview: Warriors v Spurs

The Golden State Warriors will host the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday in Game 2
of the Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena. After a really rough start in
Game 1, where the Warriors (9-0) found themselves down by as many as 25 in the
first half. Then, midway through the third quarter, Kawhi Leonard hit a pair of
free throws to keep the lead at 23, but that would be the last he would see of
the floor in Sunday’s series-opener. Prior to shooting the free throws, Leonard
came down awkwardly on his already injured ankle and he was unable to return. At
that point, with the Spurs (8-5) now without their best player, Golden State
went on an 18-0 run over the next three minutes and cut the lead to five. By the
end of the third quarter, however, San Antonio still managed to hold an
nine-point lead, but in the end, the undermanned Spurs couldn’t hold off the
Warriors. More specifically, they couldn’t stop Steph Curry, who finished with a
game-high 40 points after hitting seven three-pointers. Kevin Durant was able to
add 34 points of his own, with the star power being its strongest for the home
team. Now, with Leonard already ruled out for Game 2, the Spurs will lack a
large chunk of their already-limited star power, and it’s very possible that his
absence could extend beyond just one game. San Antonio will look once again to
Jonathan Simmons to help fill the giant void left by Leonard’s absence. When
Leonard missed Game 6 in the last series against the Rockets, Simmons shot
8-of-12 from the field en route to scoring 18 points in 31 minutes. For the
Warriors, they are dealing with an injury of their own to Andre Iguodala, who
only played 10 minutes in Game 1 due to knee soreness. The sixth man is listed
as questionable for Game 2, and the team may elect to hold him out as a
precautionary measure Tuesday.