It’s amazing how fast that swung. The Warriors were world beaters after their Game 2 win. Not only did they steal home court advantage, but many were expecting them to win the series. Experts, who didn’t pick the Warriors to get past Denver, were now saying Golden State was better than San Antonio and putting them in the Finals.

But after Friday’s 102-92 loss, the Warriors are now on the ropes. They’re in practically their first must-win game of these playoffs, as a loss in Game 4 puts them on the brink of elimination. They’ve gone from what should have been a 2-0 lead back to the underdog.

MARK JACKSON: “This is going to be a heavyweight championship fight. That’s a different animal that we’re going against.  They have four future Hall of Famers.  They’re not going to lie down.”

The Warriors learned that the hard way. Spurs guard Tony Parker showed championship resolve, bouncing back and dominating the Warriors. Gregg Popovich made some expected adjustments and one-upped his Warriors counterpart, taking control of the series.

Golden State needs a win to make this a series again.

CARL LANDRY: “I think we just didn’t have a good game. I heard coach say we didn’t match the intensity of the San Antonio Spurs. We didn’t do the little things it takes like getting the 50-50 balls an taking charges and weak side defense to win that game. We’ll get it right. Game 4 is (Sunday) and we’ll be ready to go.”

More on the Game 3 loss …

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Warriors point guard Stephen Curry emerged from the training room all smiles. When assistant coach Michael Malone put his Sharpie up to Curry’s mouth as if he was a journalist recording, Curry gave his assistant coach some inside scoop.

CURRY: “I’m going to be auditioning for Dancing with the Stars.”

Before the post-practice interview began, Curry paused the proceedings to move them to the right. That way, the camera would show him next to the Muscle Milk sticker on the refrigerator. Yup, the Warriors star point guard seemed to be in good spirits a day after re-spraining his left ankle. Again. He said he expects to play in Game 4. Here is the interview transcript”

How are your spirits the day after?

We’re still encouraged as a team. It was a missed opportunity last night. Our effort, from start to finish, wasn’t where we wanted it to be. But we have another opportunity tomorrow to even the series and be in good shape. So, we’re looking forward to getting back on the floor.

If you could gauge it, you think you’ll be bale to play?

I think so. You never really know how it’s going to feel the next day. You just keep with the treatment. Same ol’ story. I have the same answers. I hope it feels good enough to go tomorrow. But until I wake up tomorrow and see, you just hope for the best right now.

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Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is a game-time decision with a sprained left ankle.
X-rays were negative, a team official said, and no MRI was scheduled. Curry is getting ‘round-the-clock treatment. Officially he’s a game-time decision. But his chances of playing are made dicey by the earlier start. Sunday’s game tips off at 12:30, giving Curry about 36 hours of rest and rehabilitation.
MARK JACKSON: “Again, as usual, just staying true to the process. He’ll get treatment all day long. I’ll stay in constant contact with him. We’ll see how he feels and make a decision whether he plays or not tomorrow.”
At the 4:40 mark of the fourth quarter in Game 3, Curry, dribbling at the top, rolled his left ankle. He immediately began limping and gave up the ball. The Warriors eventually fouled to stop play, but he stayed in the game, waving off the substation.
It’s not his surgically repaired right ankle, which has given him problems the previous two seasons. It was the same ankle Curry sprained in Game 2 at Denver. It hadn’t been a problem since he got his second anti-inflammatory injection just before Game 4 at Oracle. Golden State had three days off before the Spurs series.
Curry has been the heart and soul of the Warriors (already without All-Star forward David Lee) and without him, their chances at upsetting No. 2 San Antonio appear suspect.
KLAY THOMPSON: “He’ll play. No question about it. He will play through anything. He’s got heart.”

The Warriors, seemingly unfazed by their fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 1, have built up another big lead on the host Spurs.

Guard Klay Thompson has taken over the game with 29 points, including seven first-half 3-pointers, to send Golden State into the locker room up 62-43 in Game 2 of this Western Conference second round series. On two quarters, he tied the Warriors record for 3-pointers in a playoff game, set by Stephen Jackson in 2007.

Curry knocked down his first two 3-point attempts. He missed his third attempt, but was fouled on the fourth, the free throws putting Golden State ahead 10-8 with 7:54 left in the third.

With memories of his 22-point quarter in Game 1 still fresh in their minds, the Spurs started paying even closer attention to Curry. So Thompson got going.

He scored five points in 41 seconds, which proved to be a sign. Later in the quarter, he scored five more in 33 seconds, his pull-up jumper in transition putting Golden State ahead 28-20.

Golden State led 28-23 entering the second quarter. Then Thompson really got hot. The Warriors led by six midway through the second quarter. But Thompson hit four straight 3-pointers to power an 18-5 Warriors run to close the half.

Golden State’s defense, of which Thompson was a big part, held the Spurs to 37.2 percents hooting in the first half. San Antonio was 0-for-7 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 28-20.

The Warriors led by as much as 18 in Game 1. They had a 16-point lead with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter before the Spurs closed the game on an 18-2 run to force overtime. San Antonio won it in double-overtime.

In the grand scheme of this second round Western Conference series, the Warriors are down 0-1 after Monday’s loss to the host Spurs.

But a pivotal question now faces Golden State. Was the 129-127 double-overtime defeat, punctuated by San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili’s devastating game-winning 3-pointer, evidence the young Warriors can hang with the veteran Spurs, or was it a back-breaking missed opportunity from which they’ll have a tough time recovering?

No doubt, coach Mark Jackson is leaning on the former.

JACKSON: “It was a great game for us, a hard-fought game. We’re a young basketball team that will be better at the end of the day. … I saw a lot of good things.”

But it’s hard not to think the latter, that this blow was too much to overcome. The Warriors, who have now dropped 30 straight in San Antonio, were up 16 with 4:31 left before blowing what looked to be a comfortable Game 1 win. They squandered chances to win it both overtimes with poor execution on both ends.

And all this happened with Spurs future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, battling stomach flu, sitting out the final 14-plus minutes.

Conventional wisdom says the Spurs — who haven’t played in eight days — kick it into gear and breathe a sigh of relief, having survived the scare, and get back to business.

But the Warriors say it was just one missed opportunity and there will be others.

STEPHEN CURRY: “We had a heart-breaker Game 1 of last series. So we’ve been here before. Obviously, you don’t want to experience that again. But we know how to come back. We’ve been a resilient team all year. We know how to turn it back on.”

More on the Game 1 loss …

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Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who led Golden State to its first playoff appearance in six years, finished seventh in Coach of the Year voting. The 2013 award went to Denver’s George Karl, who garnered 62 of the 121 first-place votes.

JARRETT JACK: “He’s done a magnificent job and in my opinion should be the coach of the year.”

It wasn’t close. Jackson, in his second season as a head coach, received three first place votes. The other coaches ahead of him in voting: Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, New York’s Mike Woodson, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Indiana’s Frank Vogel, Memphis’ Lionel Hollins. All of them had at least 50 wins or finished among the top four in their conference.

Golden State finished with 47 wins, which amounts to about 18 more than the previous lockout-shortened season. The Warriors finished second in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference. And they did it with center Andrew Bogut missing most of the year and losing swingman Brandon Rush to a season-ending injury in November.

BOGUT: “The main reason why we’re here is Coach.”

Oddly enough, the Warriors advanced to the second round largely because Jackson outcoached Karl in the first round.

Don Nelson was the last Warrior to win coach of the year back in 1992.

The biggest game-changing event in the Warriors’ Game 1 double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs was probably the moment guard Klay Thompson fouled out.

What unfolded afterward was almost too tough to watch.

THOMPSON: “It was killing me to watch from the sidelines. I’ve got to be smarter than that. I play aggressive, but maybe limit to three or four fouls a night, just for the sake of our team because I need to be out there.”

But the Warriors weren’t missing Thompson’s to-die-for jumper. They were missing his defense. As soon as he came out, San Antonio guard Tony Parker took over the game.

Thompson has become Golden State’s defensive stopper. His ability to play on-ball defense keeps the Warriors from having to switch and double-team, a big bonus for Golden State’s scheme. He has been especially adept at defending smaller quicker point guards. He was effective slowing down Denver’s Ty Lawson. Monday against the Spurs, he gave Parker fits.

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Stephen Curry is the first Warrior on the cover of Sports Illustrated in more than 15 years.

The Warriors point guard is pictured on the popular magazine regionally this week, shooting a jumper with the Oracle Arena faithful in the background.

The last time Golden State was on the Sports Illustrated cover was December 1997, when All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell choked coach P.J. Carlesimo. The last time they were on the cover for on-court performance was in December 1980 when Lloyd “World B.” Free was featured.

So if Curry has a rough shooting night, would the SI jinx be to blame? The last time the Warriors were the cover, they went through a 16-year All-Star drought.

Stephen Curry didn’t even have full control of the ball. Trying to execute a crossover, he lost the handle for a second and the ball rolled to his left. Curry, a step inside the 3-point line, picked it up and immediately hoisted at three. And there was no doubt in his mind it was going in.

CURRY: “I was feeling good. The easy answer say I practice that over the summer … Ask the coach to throw a bunch of bad passes, or in a drill just mess up a dribble move and pick it up.”

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