With San Antonio’s new 15-game win streak against a 20-game win streak by Golden State, Fred VanVleet averted a colossal collapse by the Spurs, who were up by 25 points thanks to a 5-5 stellar display by Evan Fournier (31 points). Golden State was shooting 38% at halftime, spirits shook by Dejounte Murray staring down Antetokounmpo after a thunderous slam dunk.
Then the Warriors went on a furious tear, led by Steph Curry’s eventual surge, who finished with 6 threes, as Antetokounmpo tied the game with the final minute underway. VanVleet had gone 0-4 from his signature territory, until the final five seconds with no timeouts left to advance the ball.
In overtime, Freddy V would hit three more perimeter daggers to put away the Warriors.
The final meeting of the regular season then shifted back to Texas, where the Warriors came in hot and kept heating up, especially the Greek Freak who had 37 points midway through the 3rd Quarter. Golden State found themselves on the edge of a blowout, as Giannis scorched the Spurs to a season-high 49 points, scoring past Andre Drummond and Brandon Ingram interchangeably.
After a down game in San Francisco, Ingram would finally hit his upswing, burying 3-5 from distance, hitting one 3PT burner on Giannis in the final minute as the Spurs finally retook the lead. Ingram finished with 27 points & 9 rebounds. Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with his stellar court vision, feeding Drummond easy jams and then jamming it himself over Steph Curry.
The final huge meeting of the season comes soon as the Spurs, now 71-5 with supreme home court advantage throughout the playoffs, host the likely Eastern Conference champions, Philadelphia 76ers, who lead the East at 64-13, in what should a fitting preview of this year’s most likely Finals matchup.