SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
Five years ago is a century in terms of the shifting dynamics of the NBA. Kevin Durant was still on the Thunder, and LeBron was the only super-villain who left the poor small market city he was drafted by to contend on a superteam in a far-off land. In the 2013 playoffs, the Warriors were just beginning to harness their sharpshooting skills, and the Spurs initiated a playoff resurgence led by their usual wily veterans Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker and an unsuspecting superstar taken 15th in the draft, Kawhi Leonard.
The #6 seed Warriors just upset the #3 seed Nuggets in an exciting 6 game series that caught the attention of the league. Casual NBA fans never really knew how much of a threat the Warriors could be because Steph Curry was plagued by chronic ankle issues. Every time he seemed like he was finally healthy, that ankle came back to haunt him. Warriors fans were down on themselves because here was this kid who could really turn into something, but he couldn't stay on the court. They felt like they were cursed. He only played 26 games the previous season because of his fragile ankles, but this year he powered through 78 games and got his squad to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Spurs, on the other hand, continued their longest active playoff streak of 16 straight appearances, and they'll extend it later this year to 21. They were a feared opponent in the few years leading up to this series, but they were never picked as one of the favorites to win the title. Leonard was in his second year with the team, and Greg Popovic was all aboard the Kawhi-Leonard express, predicting before training camp that he would become the face of the Spurs in a few years. He had the perfect temperament for Greg Popovic's infamous system. He was soft-spoken, humble, a monster on defense, and insanely dedicated to becoming a better basketball player - contributing however he needed to help the team win.
The stage was set for two young, powerful forces to clash in Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard in Game 1. It was a steadily close game in the first quarter and midway through the second. Steph Curry had a slow start but he dished some flashy assists and started to heat up. Third quarter comes around he starts nailing ridiculous three-pointers in the face of Tony Parker. Kawhi and the veteran Spurs kept the team in it for a bit with hustle plays and defense. And then Steph started having the Spurs defenders chase him around screens, only to leave them trailing in stupidity as he cut to the rim for easy layups. The Warriors were en route to destroying the respected Spurs franchise in their own building, a building where they lost 29 straight games. Check out this video to see how dirty he was doing the city of San Antonio.
Many started to realize - so this is why people were so high on that kid out of Davidson a few years ago. Here was this lightskin guy who wasn't big and overpowering at all. He wasn't an athletic freak of nature like we see in LeBron or Russell Westbrook. He was a quick guy who just knew how to put the ball in the god damn hoop, from far away or close up, despite his lack of athleticism and size. We were witnessing the rise of a new superstar in his first postseason, who had 32 points by the end of the 3rd quarter.
But this wasn't the first playoffs for this group of Spurs, and they knew how to battle back when they were knocked down. Tim Duncan had to go to the locker room with a stomach virus, but Kawhi Leonard stepped up and grinded out points from the Warriors defense in the paint and from deep. The Warriors couldn't hit a shot to save their life and blew a 16 point lead with 4 minutes remaining. Danny Green capped their run with a game-tying 3 pointer with 20 seconds to go. Curry couldn't sink a game-winner, thus sending the game into overtime.
Manu Ginobli was given an opportunity to win with the game tied in overtime, but he couldn't hit either so we went to double OT. Golden State grabbed a transition bucket to go up 1 with only 3.9 seconds to go in the second overtime. On the next possession out of a timeout, the Spurs entrusted the game in Kawhi Leonard's hands on the inbound pass. He chucked it to Ginobli across the court at the top of the arc. This time, when they called upon the Argentinian to save them he launched a dagger directly into the hearts of everyone in the Bay Area with a game-winning 3 pointer! The Warriors couldn't get a good shot up with 1 second remaining and the Spurs completed their seemingly insurmountable comeback 129-127 in double overtime- and it was only Game 1.
This was one of the most memorable games to occur in only the Conference Semi-finals, high stakes games like this are usually reserved for the later rounds. Curry finished with 44 points, 11 assists, and 4 rebounds while Kawhi saved most of his contributions for the biggest moments, totaling 18 points with 9 rebounds. The Spurs would go on to win this series in 6 games, then fall to the Big Three Miami Heat in an even more historic 7 game series.
This era was the twilight of Tim Duncan's final set of NBA Finals runs, and the very start of Golden States playoff magnificence. As one legend was fading away, a new one was in its infancy. Things were so different compared to now. The only stars on Golden State were Curry and Thompson, and neither of them garnered enough respect to make the All-Star team that year. A stark contrast to their team now which boasts 4 All-Stars including Kevin freaking Durant. It's nice to daydream of a time when the Warriors were just an exciting young team and not an overpowered behemoth who look like they have the next 3 NBA championships in the bag if they just stay healthy.
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