Following the recent passing of Erin Popovich it was clear that playing basketball was trivial to the San Antonio Spurs last night.
All team members gave everything they could Thursday night which was unfortunate for them as it was not enough to beat the Golden State Warriors.
Kevin Durant from the Warriors came out with 26 points in total, nine rebounds and six assists, leading his team to a 110-97 victory with a 3-0 series lead over the Spurs, who were still dealing with the loss of their coach Gregg Popovich’s wife Erin.
Golden State forward Draymond Green said “It was a perfect setup for a letdown, I don’t say that to be insensitive at all to the situation, we all take this basketball stuff serious and we want to win, but when you start talking life and death, a game doesn’t matter. But yet we still wanted to come out and try to win the game.”
The Spurs were playing only one day after the death of Erin, who passed after fighting against a long-term illness. Gregg married his wife four decades ago having two children and two grandchildren in that time.
San Antonio tried their best to keep the game as close to its original routine as possible, not even holding a moment of silence or airing a tribute video to Erin however aside their attempts it was impossible for the game to stay within the standard routine.
Gregg chose to sit with his family rather than his usual position on the sidelines, Ettore Messina was coaching the team in his place.
Ginobili and Parker stated that it was a hard game of basketball to play in regards to the loss Erin’s, but it was the team’s goal was to not only compete but to play with the same courage Popovich had always enforced. It was an emotional start for the Spurs that they could not sustain against the Warriors.
“This was about what I expected,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “First half they were getting after us like they did in Game 2 and we stayed with it, we had some bursts. The whole point is to take care of the ball and defend over 48 minutes and things should work out.” Kerr has been a friend of the Popovich family since his days playing for the Spurs at the turn of the century. In fact, Kerr grew so close with Erin Popovich that he almost got his longtime friend in trouble. “Erin was sort of the balance that Pop needed,” Kerr said. “I still remember when he traded me to Portland in 2001, he called me up to tell me the news (and) he said, `I don’t think I can go home, because Erin is gonna be so mad at me for trading you.’
It was to the performances from Durant and Klay Thompson that shot down the Spur’s chances as Thompson obtained 19 points, including 3-for-6 shooting on 3s. “Well, when the 3s are not going, we’ve just got to continue moving the ball and getting open looks,” said Thompson. “But if we’re getting open looks, they’re eventually going to fall, and we rely on our defense when we’re not making shots. Our defense can be a constant for us, shouldn’t always dictate how hard you play.”
We want to pay our respects and say best of wishes to the Popovich family from the whole team here at Sports Of The Day and congratulations to both the Warriors for winning and to Spurs for marching on and playing so well after such a painful loss.