The San Antonio Spurs (6-2) return to the Alamo City to host the Golden State Warriors (6-4) in Game 5 of their Western Conference Semifinals series which has now become a best of three.
The Warriors are coming off a 97-87 Game 4 overtime win over the Spurs in Oakland to tie up the series. The Spurs were led by Manu Ginobili’s 21 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. The Warriors were led by Harrison Barnes, who scored a playoff-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Stephen Curry will play despite having an injured left ankle in the past two games.
Though the Spurs did lose Game 4, they did split their road trip to Oakland thus regaining home court advantage over the Warriors.
And as the Spurs look to retake the lead in their series against Golden State, here are five things to watch for in tonight's contest:
• The Spurs are 7-3 in Game 5 in a best-of-seven series under coach Popovich but have lost the last two, including a year ago to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals.
• Golden State is 6-1 in the postseason when Stephen Curry scores at least 20 points and 0-3 when he scores below 20.
• Tim Duncan is only one of two players in the 2012-13 postseason (Kevin Durant) to average over 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.
• The Spurs average 99.9 points in 76 postseason games at the AT&T Center.
• The Spurs are 3-0 at home in the postseason when leading at halftime.