By Anthony Slater / The Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND, California—Joe Lacob, chest out, was at his seat before tip-off. Jay-Z and Beyoncé, just to Lacob’s right, arrived fashionably late but in plenty of time to witness the unveiling of this highly anticipated megateam. Forget the World Series. Most eyes in the Bay Area—and many across the nation—were fixated on this new, souped-up version of the Golden State Warriors.
But the script, uh, didn’t go as many expected. The San Antonio Spurs, billed as opening-night patsies, instead played the role of dominant predator, sucking the buzz out of the arena with slow, methodical, Gregg Popovich-ian execution.
The result: A blowout. A shocking blowout. Spurs 129, Warriors 100, a loss 22 points worse than either of the two Golden State home defeats from a season ago.
Cleveland’s LeBron James, meanwhile, had his 43rd career triple-double to power the Cavaliers past New York, 117-88, also on opening day on Tuesday.
James scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds and 14 assists in front of a raucous home crowd that was on its feet from the pregame ceremony until late in the game, celebrating the city’s first championship in 52 years.
Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, including 19 in the third quarter when Cleveland went on a 20-4 run that rapidly ended the Knicks’ hopes of an upset. Carmelo Anthony led New York with 19 points.
Portland extended its run of winning home openers to 16 straight seasons, as Damian Lillard scored 39 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a 113-104 victory against Utah.
How did the rout of the Warriors happen? The zombie Spurs, who remain contenders for what feels like the 198th straight season, relentlessly exploited Golden State’s biggest weaknesses. They mashed the Warriors’ thin interior, outplayed their reworked bench and took advantage of some sloppy play.
Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both missed a pair of wide-open lay-ups before the first time-out. Some jitters, it seemed. But Durant, scorching to start his Warrior debut, steadied the first-quarter ship, hitting his first four shots. The Spurs only led by three with 67 seconds left in that opening quarter.
But a David Lee lay-up was followed by a pair of Warriors misses and a Patty Mills 3. Just eight seconds remained in the first quarter. So David West frantically took the ball out of bounds and heaved it upcourt. The outlet was picked off by Manu Ginobili, fired over to Jonathan Simmons and drained before the buzzer. Another 3. An 8-0 run in 67 seconds, quickly spiking the lead to 11, capped by that ugly turnover, which partly defined the Warriors night.
In the second quarter, the Warriors’ struggles only worsened. Green, who was otherwise solid (18 points, 12 rebounds) had a forgettable 12 minutes. That included an airball 3 from the wing, a frustration foul and an outlet pass off a rebound that flew 40 feet over Stephen Curry’s head, the worst of Golden State’s 16 turnovers, which led to 17 Spurs points.
San Antonio led by 18 points at halftime.
“We weren’t energized to start the game,” Steve Kerr said. “We took for granted that things would go well.”
But the rebounding disadvantage crippled Golden State worse than the sloppy ball-handling. Durant and Green cleaned up seven defensive rebounds in the first seven minutes, keeping LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol off the glass with encouraging effort. But that didn’t last.
San Antonio finished with an eye-popping 21 offensive rebounds, all in the final 41 minutes, bullying the Warriors into the paint, timing their jumps better and bailing out failed possessions with tip-ins. In particular, Zaza Pachulia, who had a rough debut, was burned on a few failed box-outs. He finished with only two points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. Aldridge had 26 points and 14 rebounds.
“You give a team like that, who executes well anyway, second chances, it’s tough,” Stephen Curry said. “That’s pretty much the game right there.”
(With AP)
Image credits: AP