The short-sleeved Warriors shut down the Spurs for the first time in more than five years, winning 107-101 in overtime.
ORACLE ARENA – The Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-101 in overtime Friday night, snapping a monumental 16-game losing streak against the league’s best team, marking the first time Golden State has beat the Spurs in more than five years.
On the debut night of their new bright-yellow short-sleeved jerseys, the Warriors outlasted the Spurs in front of another sellout crowd of 19,596.
Led by guard Jarrett Jack, who had 30 points and 10 assists off the bench, Golden State rallied in the final minutes of the game to take the ‘W’.
Head coach Mark Jackson told SFBay after the game that Jack is the best sixth man in the league:
Warriors coach Mark Jackson
“He’s carried us at times, been a great voice in our locker room, he’s a great competitor and he’s been outstanding since day one. When you look at our record and where we are sitting, how could you ignore what he has done for us off the bench with closing ball games and having a calming effect.”
The first minutes of overtime were a back-and-forth thrill ride, but with 1:31 left Jack put in a reverse layup bringing the crowd to their feet and making the score 100-98.
Jack scored five more points, Stephen Curry chipped in a couple of free throws, and the Warriors never gave the lead back to San Antonio.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was impressed not only with Jarrett Jack but the Warriors team as a whole:
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
“I thought he had a great game, but a lot of guys for Golden State played really well. I though their team defense was great as I said. They moved the ball well and they’re a very confident group offensively and Jarrett did a wonderful job for sure.”
The Warriors battled on both sides of the court in the first half and kept up with the Spurs despite having nine turnovers to San Antonio’s three and the Dubs starting lineup shooting 0-10 from the field in the second quarter.
With the game at 39-38 the Warriors headed to locker room at half time down by only one point.
David Lee, who had a career high 22 rebounds, came out of halftime guns blazing, scoring 11 0f his 25 points in the first six minutes of the 3rd quarter, keeping the short-sleeved Warriors within one point going into the final frame.
The 4th quarter came along and the Warriors started to fall. It looked like it was going to be all San Antonio when the Spurs led by 13 with nine minutes left to play.
The Warriors came up big defensively and with Jack scoring left and right it became a grind, until Spurs guard Manu Ginobili drove in for an uncontested layup at the last second to force the game into overtime. Jack made the rest history.
When asked what he thought about Coach Jackson saying he was the best sixth man in the league, Jack said it was overwhelming, and attributed his success to his happiness with Golden State:
Warriors guard Jarrett Jack
“I’m just a guy on the team trying to contribute, being mentioned for that award is very humbling…the thing I really focus on is, I love playing with this group of guys, I love playing for my coach and those are the reasons I think I’m being successful.”
The Warriors last win over the Spurs before Friday was a 130-121 overtime win back on January 7, 2008. That season, the Warriors were 48-34. … Golden State’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 46-24. … The Warriors are now 9-1 when holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting from the field. San Antonio shot 38.9 percent. … The game had 20 lead changes and 17 ties. … The Warriors outscored the Spurs 25-2 on fast break points. … This was the 16th consecutive sellout, the longest streak of sold out games since the Arena was renovated back in 1997. … The Warriors became the first team to wear modern short sleeve NBA uniforms.
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