WarriorsWorld is providing an unbiased series of posts while watching and reporting on Jarrett Jack, and only Jarrett Jack, on both ends of the floor for the entire Western Conference Semifinals. This installment covers Game 3 in Oakland.
Jarrett Jack Watch: Game #1
Jarrett Jack Watch: Game #2
During the regular season, Jarrett Jack oftentimes led the Warriors to a victory on nights when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had off nights. Friday night at Oracle was one of those Curry/Klay off nights, but Jack did not step up.
It was the second average game in a row for Jack, who continued to try to get his teammates involved. Unfortunately, his teammates were missing good shots. Jack finished with just one assist in 34 minutes, but easily could have had at least six.
He had one bad turnover late in the game, but it’s questionable if the Warriors even had a chance at that point – down 7 with the ball and 45 seconds left. Regardless, that turnover ended any chance the Warriors may have had.
Here’s Jack’s quarterly rundown.
First Quarter:
A fairly non-impactful quarter for Jack. He checks in and plays the final four minutes. The Warriors go from up 21-16 to down 21-28. It was no fault of Jack’s, but the offense became stagnant as Diaw and Parker hit buckets to keep the Warriors out of transition. Jack ran a half-court offense featuring Curry and Klay coming off screens. Jack ran the offense well, but guys couldn’t hit shots, including a miss of his own. He made a difficult pass that Draymond had trouble catching, giving Jack one turnover in the quarter. A difficult one-legged corner jumper went in for Jack at the buzzer but the ball was still in his hand as the clock hit zero. No points.
Spurs lead 32-23 after one.
Second Quarter:
Jack plays the entire second quarter and helps keep things even with the Spurs, shooting 4-of-8 FG with one FT for a 9-point quarter.
The Warriors cut the lead to four with Jack running point. He gets back to the driving-and-kicking that was successful in Game 2 and helps set up some baskets.
Jack mainly guarded Leonard and Neal during the quarter as Parker went off on Curry and Klay. Parker did score on Jack once, missing a three but getting the offensive rebound on Jack who, instead of blocking out Parker, chose to get in position to receive the outlet pass to start the break. Parker his the open jumper off his offensive rebound.
Solid quarter for Jack. Not much activity on the defensive end, but hit some big buckets – including a three-point play that cut the lead to three with 1:16 left (48-51). His four misses were all good looks and he had zero turnovers in the quarter.
Third Quarter:
Checks in a few minutes earlier than normal, coming in for Klay at the 6:34 mark with the Warriors down three (62-65).
Running point, Jack zips a crisp chest pass to Curry, who comes off a screen and drains a 3-pointer to tie the game. Jack continues to do a nice job facilitating, but his teammates aren’t hitting the open looks. Jack doesn’t take one shot in over six minutes during the quarter and had one assist. If guys hit open shots, he has six assists. The missed shots and turnovers lead to an 11-0 run for the Spurs (65-76).
Again, not much defensive activity at all for Jack in the quarter.
Spurs lead 79-69.
Fourth Quarter:
Jack plays nearly the entire fourth quarter, taking just three shots and missing two (including a three) with no assists, one turnover and one steal. Curry gets just two shots in the quarter, missing both. Klay shoots 2-of-8.
Jack runs the point and keeps the ball moving well as the Warriors start the quarter on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 79-78 at the 10:06 mark.
The Warriors lose momentum as they miss open looks and the Spurs intentionally foul Bogut, who misses 3-of-4 FTs. It’s 90-79 with 5:39 left to play.
Then Curry hurts his ankle. But Jack comes up with a pull-up jumper to keep the Warriors in it, down 83-91 with 4:27 to go.
On the nest possession, San Antonio ends up inbounding on the baseline. Jack and Barnes switch after a Parker/Leonard screen. Jack picks up Leonard under the basket and Leonard spins on Jack nicely to get in front of him, receives the inbounds pass and hits a tough layup with Jack trailing. 83-93.
Jack drives and gets Curry an open look at a 3-pointer, but Curry continues to struggle and misses.
Down 93-88 after Parker misses two FTs, Jack brings the ball up and the play develops slowly. Landry comes up top to set a screen for Jack while the other three Warriors all stand and watch. The Spurs play it perfectly and Jack has nowhere to go and no one to pass to. He keeps dribbling and gets another screen from Landry as the shot clock runs down. Duncan plays great defense on Jack, who loses the ball, gets it back and has to force up a 3-pointer. Airball. Bad shot, bad possession. But you can’t blame all that on Jack. With Curry hobbling and Klay gone cold, Mark Jackson didn’t have many options. But he should have had a better play than the Landry/Jack pick-and-roll against one of the greatest defenders in NBA history.
After a Spurs miss, the Warriors get the ball back down 7 with under a minute to go. Though it’s not much of one, there is still a chance. It quickly goes away on a bone-headed move by Jack. He brings the ball up in transition and pulls up for the jumper on Danny Green. In mid-air, he changes his mind, doesn’t shoot, sees Landry cutting in the lane and fires an off-target pass that’s stolen by Manu with 47 seconds left.
Ballgame.
This turnover didn’t cost the Warriors the game, but it cost them a chance to get back in the game. If they score there, they are down by either 4 or 5 points with 30-40 seconds left and the Spurs in possession. It’s still a long shot, but Jack ruined the chance to have that chance.