The sight was odd, jarring even. Gregg Popovich was absent Thursday from the San Antonio Spurs’ sideline he has roamed for 22 years for Game 3 of the team’s playoff series against Golden State, missing a second consecutive postseason game after the unexpected death of his wife.
Things did not return to normal in Game 4 on Sunday, with Popovich yielding his seat for another game to Ettore Messina with the Spurs facing elimination. But while San Antonio fell to Golden State in Game 3, Popovich’s squad turned in an inspired performance Sunday, taking Game 4, with a score of 103-90.
One of the Spurs who goes back furthest with Popovich, Manu Ginobili, was instrumental in the victory. The 40-year-old Ginobili scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, and after the game he answered a question about the “challenge” of playing while “grieving.”
“It’s a tough challenge,” he told ESPN’s Lisa Salters. “We’ve never been through that type of adversity.
“Our leader is struggling, so we are trying to respond and play as if he was here, and hopefully he keeps pushing us from home.”
“It was strange looking down the sideline,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr admitted before Game 3, “and not seeing Pop.”
“It was a sad time, as you can understand,” Messina said Thursday (via the Express-News). “I think everybody did a fantastic job in really trying to support each other and face a moment like it should be faced, with the support of friends.”
Messina was a legendary coach in Europe, but Popovich’s absence was acutely felt even though much of the game plan had been formulated before Erin Popovich died Wednesday at age 67.
“You go through a season with anybody for 82 games, you see them every day,” Danny Green said. “You’re used to them being there. Especially with his presence. When that’s not there, it’s a big difference.”
Even with the win Sunday, the Spurs are in a very precarious position, with the Warriors getting another chance to close out the series Tuesday, that game on their home court. An eventual loss in the series will send the Spurs to an uncertain summer, one in which Popovich will be confronted with a number of on-the-court issues after a season of turmoil involving Kawhi Leonard’s future.
“You know how important Pop is, not only for us players, but the whole organization and the whole NBA,” Ginobili said Saturday (via the Associated Press). “We probably are in a better situation emotionally and hopefully it fuels us. But it’s hard to tell how a team is going to react.”
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