We knew the three would be Golden State’s advantage in their first round bout with Denver, but we were discussing their shooting behind the arc, not the entire quarter.
Denver’s defense gave up points like they were holding a garage sale during the third quarter. Before Game 5’s third quarter, the Warriors had outscored Denver by 33 points in that period. In Game 6, Golden State lit Denver up with 33 points and outscored them by 13 in the third.
It wasn’t as emphatic as Curry’s 22-point third quarter explosion in game 4, but Game 6’s 33-20 run in the third period was a total team effort.
Like the baby-faced roster they are, Golden State crawled to the finish in the fourth. As Dever turned up the heat on their press, a 13-0 run put Golden State on their heels, but the Nuggets were buried so far beneath the third quarter avalanche that the hope for digging themselves out was slim.
However, Curry offered a helping hand. After entering the game in the fourth quarter with Golden State up 80-62, Denver whittled the lead down to five by forcing Curry to turn the ball over four times and held him to two points in the entire quarter.
Against the grandfatherly Spurs in the second round, Golden State has to grow up a little more quickly if they want to make it a series. They can't get lackadaisical and turn the ball 10 times in the fourth and Curry has to channel his inner Kyra Sedgewick to become the Warriors closer. Golden State’s lost 29 straight games going back to 1997. It’s not a coincidence that their last win in San Antonio occurred during Tim Duncan’s rookie year.
Against Golden State, the Spurs are going to be facing a much more athletic, healthier and more offensively dynamic team than the “All-Justin TimberLakers” suit and tie team they TKO’d in four games. The Spurs have been bucked at by younger squads before and although the Warriors flashed a spark in their first playoff appearance of the Curry-era, San Antonio's championship contending flame hasn't been extinguished yet.
The Warriors are +16.7 per 100 possessions in the third quarter of this series. So buckle up.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 3, 2013
he plays so hard & dumb at the same time RT @cuffsthelegend: I love watching Javale McGee play the game of basketball!! #FewThingsFunnier
— Nubyjas Wilborn (@nwilborn19) May 3, 2013
Andrew Bogut was a BEAST & had his best game of the season (14-21-4blk) as the @warriors advance! #StatLineOfTheNight twitter.com/nbastats/statu…
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 3, 2013
@shadowleaguetsl Very Mild Curry….
— SERG DERANG0 (@SERG1O_D) May 3, 2013
