The Great Escape

The Golden State Warriors won their 71st of the season with a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, and escaped Memphis with a one point win, 100-99.

It was another horrible shooting night for Steph Curry, and by now this repetition might be concerning for the playoffs.  He was especially off on 3s, going into the locker room at half time with five misses and no made 3.  He made a crucial one in the fourth quarter, but in the last seconds he had two opportunities to seal the win and missed them both.  He ended up with 3, barely continuing his streak of games with made 3s, and making the mark of 400 in a season less likely.  (He's at 385, so it's not impossible.)

But he contributed in other ways, with assists, and in the final seconds, on defense. It looked as though he blocked or altered what could have been the winning shot.

Steve Kerr held Andrew Bogut out, and that makes the victory more impressive because Bogut has become so essential on both ends.  So Bogut will be fresh for San Antonio, where he did not play last time because of injury, and his absence was crucial in that loss.

So Golden State can still make history, and they will need to make a bunch of it on Sunday, handing the Spurs their first home loss of the season, and breaking their own decades-long losing streak in San Antonio.  If they do, they will tie the single season record for wins, with a chance to break it at home, against that Memphis team they barely beat today.

The San Francisco Giants almost escaped with another win over the Dodgers--they were leading 2-1 in the ninth with one out and a double-play ball on its way to the day's second baseman Kelby Tomlinson.  But it was starting to rain again in a rain-delayed game, and the ball was doing funny things in the wet infield.  It took just one weird bounce to tie the game, and the Dodgers--who had left runners in scoring position all day--finally cashed one in, and eventually won 3-2.

Neither Bumgarner nor Kershaw got a decision.  Kershaw pitched the more efficient game but Bumgarner showed flashes of his typical dominance, and left with the lead.  Part of that lead came from what everybody will talk about from this game--Bumgarner's laser shot home run off Kershaw, the only pitcher to ever ding him more than once.

The 4-0 Pittsburgh Pirates lost their first game of the season, with ace Gerritt Cole again failing to beat Cinncy.