Warriors blow 14-point lead to Spurs, lose grasp on Western Conference playoff picture

SAN FRANCISCO The Warriors didn t need this one but it would have made their lives a whole lot easier Golden State started fast and its stars played their best basketball after halftime but still wasn t able to put away what looked to be the easiest tournament left on its schedule Despite scoring the first points of the match the first six of the second half and getting combined points from Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler the Warriors fell Wednesday night to the San Antonio Spurs - packing more pressure onto their final two contests Without any help the Warriors will need to win both their final games against the Trail Blazers and Clippers to clinch the No seed and avoid the dreaded play-in tournament They passage to Portland on Friday and host Los Angeles in their regular-season finale on Sunday It s going down to the wire for a reason coach Steve Kerr mentioned afterward There s a lot of great teams in the West and there s very sparse easy games There are just very scant games that fall into place and because of the -point line in the modern NBA you re constantly vulnerable That s what got us tonight The Warriors led by as multiple as points in the second half including an - advantage at the start of the fourth quarter but were tied at with seconds left on the clock when the ball exposed the hands of Harrison Barnes who put up a prayer from -point territory that fell through the net as the buzzer sounded Golden State had possession in a tied tournament with with seconds left but Barnes came up big again intercepting Curry s inbound pass and setting up a layup from Keon Johnson that put San Antonio up - Draymond Green sank a pair of free throws and San Antonio called timeout setting up the final possession The Spurs outscored the Warriors in the fourth quarter - Barnes game-winner was their th -pointer on attempts We just couldn t contain them defensively Kerr reported And when you do that you leave the door open for shots like the one Harrison hit at the end Curry finished with a game-high points Butler poured in points and Green filled the statsheet with points nine rebounds and eight assists But it wasn t enough to beat the Spurs who had lost eight of their previous nine games entering Wednesday including a - rout last week in San Antonio Without Victor Wembanyama or De Aaron Fox the Spurs were led by three players who scored -plus points Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson each contributed points and Barnes added to go with double-figures from four other scorers Related Articles Kurtenbach Forget seeding the Warriors priority should be a spring break On sale in current times Single-game tickets to the Golden State Valkyries Buddy Hield entering rare company as Warriors iron man Jimmy Butler isn t Kevin Durant He s exactly what the Warriors need Steph Curry bounces back Warriors rout Durant-less Suns Golden State got off to a fast start from the opening tip and it looked like the Warriors might be in for a win reminiscent of their road rout The Warriors forced the Spurs to miss their first six attempts from the field and jumped out to an - lead They held a - advantage at the end of the first period The event was the Warriors sixth in four cities in the past eight days and they fell to - in the second half of a back-to-back Their - win the previous night in Phoenix meant none of Curry Butler or Green had to log more than minutes They didn t have the same luxury against the Spurs who climbed all the way back from their cold start to take a - lead into the locker room San Antonio didn t go away after halftime falling behind by as several as points but pulling all the way back to make it a fresh ballgame with minutes left This is what the playoffs feel like Kerr declared Lot of pressure A lot on the line Tough losses The only thing you can do is to pick your chin up off the floor and get back at it the next day