Nothing much has gone right for the San Antonio Spurs in the first three games — all definitive losses — to the Golden State Warriors in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Now Carlton Davis Buccaneers Jersey , with the prospect of a second consecutive four-game playoff sweep by Golden State, everything has to go right for the Spurs to even extend the series past Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
San Antonio will be behind the eight ball even before the game tips off as the team announced Saturday that coach Gregg Popovich will again be missing from the sidelines as he remains with his family in the aftermath of his wife’s death Wednesday.
Popovich did not coach the Spurs during their 110-97 loss to Golden State in Game 3 on Thursday, handing those duties over to first assistant Ettore Messina.
Messina will also be at the helm Sunday as San Antonio tries to stay alive and push the series to a fifth game Tuesday in Oakland. But even those chances are slim, and it’s all but a given that the Warriors will win the series and move on to the conference semifinals.
The Spurs lost Thursday because they didn’t shoot well, a theme throughout the first three games of the series. San Antonio shot 42.5 percent from the field and made only 7 of 33 from 3-point range. That poor performance from beyond the arc came after a 4-for-28 showing from long distance in Game 2 on Monday.
“Our guys focused in and we came in and we played,” said Spurs All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who led the team in Game 3 with 18 points and 10 rebounds. “It’s been the same thing. We just aren’t making shots that are there.
“They’re (Warriors) doubling and doing their things. We have open shots, but they just aren’t going in. Our guys are competing, following the game plan, and trying to give ourselves a shot, but when don’t make shots, it’s always tough.”
Tony Parker added 16 points off the bench for San Antonio in Game 3 Authentic Customized 49ers Jerseys , bit most of those points came in garbage time, when things were already out of hand.
The teams could not have had a more contrasting series over the first three games, as for everything the Spurs have done wrong, Golden State has done right. It’s been a totally dominating performance so far for the defending NBA champions, even without guard Stephen Curry — who is out rehabbing a knee injury.
Kevin Durant led the Warriors in Game 3 with 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting, nine rebounds and six assists. Klay Thompson added 19 points, and Shawn Livingston hit for 16. In all, six players scored in double figures for Golden State.
Thompson said the Warriors’ success in the first three games has been predicated on their willingness to go the extra mile on defense.
“We rely on our defense when we’re not making shots,” Thompson said. “Our defense can be a constant for us and dictate how far you play. If we get open looks, they’re eventually going to fall.”
Durant and Livingston rolled their ankles in the fourth quarter of Game 3, adding some suspense, at least on the injury front Youth Harrison Phillips Jersey , for Sunday’s game.
“They’re going to be OK,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Durant and Livingston. “Shaun’s was probably a little worse than Kevin’s. Both sprained ankles, but I think they’ll be all right.”
Marcedes Lewis wasn’t sure if the Green Bay Packers were the right fit for him. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and tight end Jimmy Graham made him feel at home at Lambeau Field.
Lewis visited Green Bay last week thinking he wanted to explore his options during his first stint as a free agent following 12 years with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He received calls from other teams, but he said that the Packers were the most persistent so he made Lambeau his first stop.
He never made another visit.
”This was the only place I took a trip … I took my trip, and Aaron was here in the locker room. I started talking to him,” Lewis said Thursday. ”I started talking to Jimmy and I kind of made my decision that day.
”When I came down here, I didn’t expect to sign anything,” Lewis added. ”I was just coming down here to get a feel. Once I saw Aaron and Jimmy, it was a no-brainer after that.”
Lewis, 34, was released by the Jaguars in March after the team had picked up his one-year, $3.5 million option in February. His signing filled a glaring need – a blocking tight end – and gives the Packers another veteran at the position with Graham 49ers Weston Richburg Jersey , a five-time Pro Bowler, and Lance Kendricks.
”I don’t think we’ve had this much experience at the tight end position in my time here,” said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who called Lewis a ”prime-time player.”
”An on-the-line tight end is something we haven’t had a lot of, as far as the way we’ve played over the years,” McCarthy added. ”He can block any defensive end on the league, and that’s definitely a huge asset.”
Lewis, who said he felt he got a ”raw deal” from the Jaguars, started 157 games for Jacksonville. He has 375 career receptions, including 24 for 318 yards and five touchdowns last year.
Still, Lewis hasn’t caught more than 25 passes in a season since 2012, when he had 52 receptions. His best season came in 2010 Adidas Nikita Kucherov Jersey , when he earned his lone Pro Bowl selection by catching a career-high 58 passes for 700 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The 6-foot-6, 269-pound Lewis said he takes the ”blocking tight end” moniker as a compliment, but added that ”I pride myself on being a really good all-around tight end, whatever it is that I’m called upon to do.”
It’s the type of attitude that Rodgers loves to hear. Lewis’ ability to help slow down pass-rushers should help an offensive line that has questions on the right side.
”Obviously, I’m a really good blocker, but don’t get it mistaken. I didn’t come here to be a tackle. … Be on the other side of Jimmy doing some good things,” he said. ”It’s going to be trouble out there.”
Graham’s strength is making tough catches. Kendricks provides experienced depth.
”Jimmy’s not known as a blocking tight end, but he’s willing. He will get in the way. He will punch you in the mouth,” Lewis said. ”So it’s going to be interesting. We get in that personnel with three tight ends on the field and (defenses) have to leave base on the field, it’s not going to be good.”