Spurs outlast Warriors in double OT

Manu Ginobili's 3-pointer from the wing with 1.2 seconds left in double overtime lifted the San Antonio Spurs to a thrilling 129-127 victory over the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry's 44 points in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.

The Spurs trailed by 16 points with 4 minutes left in regulation before going on an 18-2 run to close the fourth quarter and force overtime.

They trailed 127-126 with 3.9 seconds left in the second overtime before Ginobili hit his 3-pointer off a cross-court inbounds pass from Kawhi Leonard.

"It's only the second one I made all day," Ginobili said. "Good timing though."

Golden State had one final chance, but Jarrett Jack's 3-pointer from the top of the key was off. After trailing by so many points late, Ginobili wasn't sure how his team rallied for the improbable victory.

"I have no clue. I really got to watch it to see what happened," he said. "They started missing shots. Steph was unbelievable in the third quarter."

Tony Parker scored 28 points to lead San Antonio, while Danny Green added 22 points, Leonard had 18 and Ginobili 16.

Tim Duncan finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes. Duncan, who is battling a stomach bug, left the game with 3 minutes left in regulation and only played the final seconds of each overtime.

Curry had 11 assists and was 18 for 35 from the field and 6 for 14 on 3-pointers for Golden State, which has lost 30 straight in San Antonio dating back to Feb 14, 1997. Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes each added 19 points, Jack had 15 and Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Golden State trailed by five with 1 minute left in the second overtime before the Warriors scored six straight points to take a one-point lead on Kent Bazemore's reverse layup that gave the Warriors a 127-126 advantage with 3.9 seconds left before Ginobili's game-winner.

After the Spurs rallied at the end of regulation, they took their first lead in overtime since they were up 3-2. The teams traded leads in the first OT before Jack tied it at 115 with 20 seconds left. San Antonio had a chance to win it, but Ginobili's shot was off.

The Warriors missed eight of their final nine shots in regulation, including a desperation heave by Curry at the buzzer against several defenders.

"We wanted to keep playing, keep competing," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Try to make stops, make some adjustments ... Stay in attack mode on offense. It worked out. It was anybody's game that's for sure."

The Spurs slowed Curry early in the fourth quarter by putting the 6-foot-7 Leonard on in the fourth quarter. Curry scored only six points in the fourth quarter, helping fuel San Antonio's rally behind Parker and Leonard.

Curry had 22 points in the third quarter, including 14 straight late in the period. Curry's run gave Golden State a 90-72 lead with 37.5 seconds left in the third.

"He was great, he was great," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said of Curry, who played all but four seconds of the game. "I didn't think he lost his legs at all."

(China Daily 05/08/2013 page24)