5 Takeaways From the Golden State Warriors’ Epic Game 1 Collapse
1. Experience wins playoff games.
May 6, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) looks at the score board during the second half in game one of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at the AT
Even though the Warriors were able to beat the Nuggets in their first round playoff series, despite their inexperience, they are going to have to learn how to close out games more effectively. The Warriors were up by 16 points with four minutes to go in regulation, and they were not able to maintain their lead. The Spurs went on an 18-2 run to close out the fourth quarter and send the game to overtime.
The Spurs only scored five fast break points in the first half, but they were able to get back into the game in the fourth quarter by scoring in transition off of sloppy defense by the Warriors. The Spurs ended the game with 19 fast break points compared to the Warriors nine points.
The Warriors’ inexperience showed in their costly turnovers, over-helping on defense, and lack of energy on defense at the end of regulation. The Warriors struggled with these same issues when they struggled to close out Game 6 of the Denver series. Although they won that game and the series, Mark Jackson, Jarrett Jack, and Stephen Curry ensured that those costly mistakes would not happen again. Unfortunately, the Warriors made sloppy mistakes last night, and, this time, it cost them.
“I understand how to be better in those situations,” Curry said. “Just the emotions I had during it. So I’m not going to let that happen again.”
The Warriors have shown they can win the rebounding and the points in the paint matchup in the playoffs. In Game 1, the Warriors out-rebounded the Spurs 55-45, and they scored 52 points in the paint compared to the Spurs’ 42 points in the paint. The Warriors will have to control their turnovers in order to win a game in this series. The Warriors committed 21 turnovers, which the Spurs scored 21 points off of, and the Spurs committed 14 turnovers, which the Warriors scored 15 points off of.