Harrison Barnes’ game winner vs. Warriors gets three stars on the Horry Scale
A tough shot that hurts the other team’s seeding, plus a little personal meaning? That’s good enough for some extra points.
The Spurs season is just a few days away from being over, and with both Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox out for a while now, there hasn’t been much to do but wait it out and start anticipating next season, which is looking very promising with a healthy squad. That being said, if you have tuned the Spurs out lately, you’ve missed some fun games. There was the Mamu game against the Knicks, upset of the Nuggets, and the thrilling comeback against the Cavs, which was only lost when Harrison Barnes’ floater bounced off the back iron at the buzzer.
An even easier game to tune out would have been last night’s match-up against the Warriors in San Francisco. It was a 9 PM tipoff for San Antonians, the second night of a back-to-back after a tough loss to the Clippers, and there was plenty of reason to believe the same Warriors team that gave the Spurs a 32-point shellacking in SA a couple of weeks ago would have too much at stake to blow this game at home. It didn’t seem like a win was in order, but once again, if you tuned out, you missed out.
After overcoming a bad first quarter with a strong second quarter, the Spurs once again found themselves down 12 heading into the fourth after a turd quarter, but they didn’t quit. They slowly ground away at the lead, and after a couple of tough buckets from Keldon Johnson, Barnes had another chance at redemption (both for the Cavs game and for fouling Draymond Green the previous possession, allowing him to tie the game at the line). He delivered against his former club with an impressive fadeaway three at the buzzer.
Over at NBA.com, they have a feature called The Horry Scale, where they rate game-winning buzzer beaters 1-5 based on factors such as game situation, difficulty, importance, etc. I don’t know when the Spurs last made an “Horry” — they just missed out in Charlotte during the Rodeo Road Trip when Fox’s three was just a hair late — but they finally did last night, and here is what they had to say on the way to giving Barnes three Horrys:
With the Warriors fighting to avoid the SoFi Play-In Tournament, a familiar face dealt a serious blow to their hopes. San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes, who played his first four seasons in the Bay and was a part of the 2015 title team, capped off a 20-point night with a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Spurs a 114-111 win over Golden State on Wednesday night.
After Draymond Green hit a pair of free throws to tie up the game, the Spurs called timeout with 3.1 seconds left to set up the final play.
GAME SITUATION: Both teams entered the night playing the second game of a back-to-back, and the Warriors may have run out of steam down the stretch. After Golden State let a 14-point lead slip away, Barnes made the interesting choice of fouling Green with a two-point lead, which paid off in that they didn’t get burned by a 3-pointer while also setting up San Antonio with the final action in regulation.
DIFFICULTY: After Stephon Castle inbounded the ball, Barnes had the option to hand off to the rookie, who had a team-high 21 points, or keep the ball in his own hands. The 13-year veteran, who had already hit five 3s in the game, opted to spin to his left and take the shot over the outstretched arms of Jimmy Butler III. Barnes had time to take two dribbles to his left before fading away to get the shot over the 6-foot-7 Butler. The shot was pure and the celebration ensued.
CELEBRATION: Barnes, who finished 6-for-9 from the field (all 3-point attempts), had a brief moment to keep his right hand extended in the follow through before his teammates mobbed him. Stephon Castle was the first to jump into the jubilant veteran’s arms, and the rest of the team joined in the fun, carrying their hero up the court as they jumped in celebration. One Spurs player skipped the initial scrum to instead run to midcourt and throw his fist in the air, before joining his teammates in mobbing their savior.
GRADE: With San Antonio already eliminated from playoff contention, every bright moment is a building block for the future. This win on the road will certainly be something the young roster can remember next season as the Spurs continue their rebuild. For the Warriors, this was a difficult blow, dropping them from 4th in the West to 7th and a potential SoFi Play-In spot. For Barnes, sealing the win in dramatic fashion in a familiar city looked like it held extra meaning. We’ll give it 3 Horrys.
The Spurs have two games left, and both look very winnable at this point — at Phoenix, where the Suns are eliminated from the play-in and will likely be checked out, and at home against the Toronto Raptors — so be sure to tune in and root the Spurs on until the very end.
