Kevin Durant’s Huge Fourth Quarter Leads Warriors Past The Spurs

The Golden State Warriors topped the San Antonio Spurs in a dramatic comeback victory, 110-107. Golden State played pretty sloppily for the most part, and Steph Curry’s injury didn’t help. Stephen Curry injured his ankle in the first quarter, and Quinn Cook struggled to replace one of the league’s best floor generals. Cook put up only two points and one assist, on an abysmal 16.7% shooting.

The Warriors led 28-21 after the first quarter, but the Spurs went on a 20-4 run in the second to take the lead heading into the half. Kyle Anderson did a good job guarding Durant in the first half, holding him to 14 points on 42.9% shooting. Klay Thompson also struggles mightily in the first half, scoring four points on 20% shooting. The Warriors were 1-11 on threes to end the half and ended at 26.7% from beyond the arc.

After a 9-0 San Antonio run in the third, they led by nine heading into the fourth. Later in the fourth, the Spurs went on a 6-0 run putting them up eight, finished with an emphatic Dejounte Murray dunk.

Dejounte Murray DOWN HARD! 🔥💥#GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/uYaWcimBhO

— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2018

From there on out, it was the KD show. Durant scored 14 straight points in the fourth quarter, leading the Warriors to an eventual three-point win. Durant finished the night with 37 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks on 53.8% shooting. At the end of the game, Bryn Forbes had an open three to tie, but it landed just short.

LaMarcus Aldridge had an excellent game for the Spurs, scoring 30 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. The Spurs routinely fed the ball to Aldridge down low, where he made light work of any Golden State defender for most of the ballgame. Five other Spurs scored in double digits. JaVale McGee dominated on the defensive side with four blocks, to go along with 13 points and seven boards.

Looking Ahead

In the uber-competitive western conference, this loss finds the Spurs at fifth in the West, 2.5 games ahead of the eighth seed. This was a winnable game for San Antonio and one that would have greatly helped them in the western conference playoff race. San Antonio is 3-7 in their last 10 games. As for Kawhi Leonard, he supposedly is set to return “soon,” but who knows when that will be. Leonard last played on January 13th.

As for Golden State, they break the 51 win mark with this win. They play tomorrow night against the surging Portland Trailblazers, who have won eight straight games. Steve Kerr said that Curry will not play against Portland tomorrow. Curry’s health will be vital to their success in the postseason. Stephen Curry missed 13 games earlier in the year with an ankle injury, and the Warriors went 10-3 over that stretch.

Ben Pfeifer is the Managing Editor of the Colts for Full Press Coverage, the AFC South Division Editor, and head NBA editor. Want to continue the discussion? Contact Ben Pfeifer on Twitter @Ben_Pfeifer_ and @FPC_Colts.