Golden State nightmare

http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=211&xlc=1092319

As he's done throughout his career, Van Exel frustrated the Spurs on
Saturday night. He scored 16 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter,
including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19.2 seconds left as Golden State
edged the Spurs 91-89 in front of a delirious crowd of 17,680 at the
Arena in Oakland.

Tim Duncan totaled 27 points and 15 rebounds and had a chance to send
the game into overtime, but missed an open 19-footer just before the
final buzzer.

"I'm just not afraid to fail," said Van Exel, who almost
single-handedly rallied the Warriors. "If you're afraid to fail, you
can't succeed."

"As simplistic as it may sound, I would just like to see more people
playing better," Popovich said before the game. "You can talk about
O's and X's and understanding the system, but it all becomes secondary
when you have so few people playing well.

"In particular, Timmy and Tony (Parker) are not at the top of their
games, obviously. Our system is built around those two guys. If
they're not able to perform at a top level, then we're going to have
problems."

Duncan stepped to the free-throw line with 10.3 seconds left and a
chance to tie the game, but missed his first shot badly. He made the
second, leaving the Spurs down a point. Clifford Robinson, however,
was able to only nudge the Warriors' lead to 91-89 when he also missed
the first of two foul shots.

After calling timeout with 8.2 seconds left, the Spurs inbounded to
Parker, who found Duncan alone near the top of the key. His shot, like
much of the Spurs' season, was off.