Kritik und Lob » rs defensive calls, the Broncos had a goal-

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Slow at the start of the series and strong at the end, the San Antonio Spurs wore out the Golden State Warriors the way they have so many other opponents. Tim Duncan had 19 points and six rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Spurs held off a furious final rally to beat the Warriors 94-82 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Western Conference finals. "Theyve got great character. Theyre competitive. They know theres not a million chances to do this sort of thing. They wanted it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. Tony Parker shook off a poor start to score 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Tiago Splitter added a career-playoff high 14 points for San Antonio, which had a 13-point lead in the third quarter dissolve to two in the final minutes. Stephen Curry shot 10 of 25 from the floor to score 22 points on a nagging left ankle, and Jarrett Jack had 15 points as the injury-saddled Warriors finally tired. The Spurs outshot Golden State 45 per cent to 39 per cent and outrebounded them 46 to 40. Second-seeded San Antonio will open the conference finals at home against Memphis on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Grizzlies eliminated Oklahoma City in five games. The Spurs lost to the Thunder in the conference finals in six games last season after going ahead 2-0. They havent been to the NBA Finals since 2007, when they won their fourth title with a sweep of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Spurs became the first team to win consecutive games in the series and hand the Warriors consecutive losses in the playoffs -- and they did it at just the right time. The Spurs quieted a standing-room-only crowd late in the third quarter and seemingly seized control for good. Instead, the Warriors roared back. Klay Thompson, who had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting, made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter that sliced San Antonios lead to three. Then Currys pull-up jumper brought the Warriors within 77-75 with 4:52 to play. Parker was 1 for 13 before hitting a corner 3-pointer before Leonard followed with two free throws to put the Spurs up seven. Jack made a jumper and two free throws to bring the Warriors back again. Then Leonard hit another corner 3-pointer for the Spurs to go ahead 85-79. Curry and Thompson each had consecutive 3s rim out on the same possession that couldve kept Golden State close. But Parker hit another 3-pointer to put San Antonio up 88-79 with 1:15 remaining and send some of the yellow-shirted crowd of 19,596 heading to the exits. In the end, most still stuck around. Fans serenaded the home team with chants of "Warr-i-ors!" in the final seconds. Curry also grabbed the microphone after the game and thanked fans at half court, breaking the huddle with the crowd, "Just us!" The Warriors had only made the playoffs once since 1994 before this season and hadnt won two games after the first round since 1977. "Its inspiring to think of what we were able to accomplish this year and the foundation that has been laid," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. The Spurs showed incredible ball movement and had the Warriors playing from behind most of the way. San Antonios first 10 field goals came on an assist, going ahead by 10 points in the second quarter and maintaining that cushion until late. Golden State stayed close despite more injury setbacks in a season full of them. Andrew Bogut walked gingerly to the locker room with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter to get his troublesome left ankle re-tapped. Upstart rookie Harrison Barnes fell awkwardly while leaping to contest a layup in the second quarter from Boris Diaw. Barnes hit the court hard and his teammates immediately called for the training staff to attend to him as the arena fell silent. He received six stitches above his right eye at halftime and ran on the court late to start the third quarter, bringing fans to their feet roaring once more. At least for a moment. Barnes left the game in the fourth quarter because of a headache, the team said. He finished with nine points and four rebounds in 31 minutes. The steady Spurs kept making the Warriors work for every shot and grinding out points on the other end. San Antonio took a 61-48 lead late in the third quarter before Golden State started its final surge. The Spurs made sure it wasnt enough. NOTES: NBA Commissioner David Stern, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and prospective Kings owner Vivek Ranadive attended the game. ... The Spurs are 10-1 in closeout games since the start of the 2007 playoffs. ... Parkers worst shooting performance in the playoffs with more than five shot attempts came when he was 1 of 12 against New Jersey in the 2003 NBA Finals won by the Spurs. ... The Warriors fell to 4-1 after a loss in the playoffs. Air Jordan Sale Nz . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Air Jordan Nz . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http://www.saleairjordannz.com/ . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Jordan Clearance Sale . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. Air Jordan Nz Online . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. DENVER -- Welcome back to Raiders-Broncos, a rivalry thats lost some of its luster in recent years.Now, both teams are 6-2 and headed for a showdown next weekend with the AFC West lead on the line.You have to go all the way back to Week 16 of 2002 to find the last time these old AFL foes had this much at stake in a game against one another.The Raiders won that one, 28-16, ending Denvers hopes of taking the division, sending Brian Griese to the bench, Steve Beuerlein to the huddle and the Broncos on an offseason quarterback quest that ended with Jake Plummer under center in Denver.The Broncos and Raiders both stayed a step ahead of Kansas City (5-2) on Sunday in the NFLs top division.Oakland overcame 23 penalties to beat Tampa Bay 30-24 in overtime. Then, Denver beat San Diego 27-19 by hitting Philip Rivers 17 times, batting down 13 of his passes, picking off three other throws and sacking him four times.Thats the type of defense that we play, said Von Miller, who had a sack, along with Jared Crick, Justin Simmons and T.J. Ward. Theres enough to go around for everybody. Its great on our team. No one is waiting around for somebody else to make a play. Were all out there trying to make a play from left corner to right corner and everybody in between.We feel like the next play is our chance to make a play for our team and that type of mentality really drives the type of style that we play on defense.Rivers took solace in this as he left: We split with the Denver Broncos this year.And thats saying something.Other takeaways from Denvers win that avenged a 21-13 loss at San Diego 17 days earlier:GROUNDED GROUND GAME: Rookie Devontae Bookers first NFL start was a mixed bag: a 3-yard TD run and a fumble at the 2 to go with just 54 yards on 19 carries (2.8-yard average per carry).It was non-existent, coach Gary Kubiak said of his run game just six days after it had produced 190 yards against Houston. We come out and go right down the field and look like a good, sharp football team and then we couldnt get out of our way about the next three or four series. Im disappointed. I know that we were missing C.J. today, but thats a done deal. We have to improve.Kapri Bibbs ran twice for 4 yards and Juwan Thompson ran once for a 1-yard TD.SAFETY DANCE: Ward and Darian Stewart both had interceptions on the day they were featured on the Broncos program .ddddddddddddI told him on the sidelines, `Stew, we both got picks and we was on the cover today. Weve got to be on the cover every week, Stewart said.Stewarts 25-yard interception return to the San Diego 10 set up Bookers 3-yard TD run. Ward picked off Rivers pass at the 30, spun around and made it to the Chargers 7.Ive been telling you dudes that Im a natural running back, Ward said. I just dont like getting hit.He was lamenting not getting in the end zone like Bradley Roby did on his 49-yard pick-6 in the first half, however, when Booker fumbled the ball away at the 2 moments later.DINGED DENVER: The Broncos were missing two defensive starters in linebacker Brandon Marshall (hamstring) and cornerback Aqib Talib (back) to start the game and lost cornerback Kayvon Webster to a hamstring injury.The Broncos also lost their defensive leader when coordinator Wade Phillips was taken to a hospital after getting knocked down during Robys return in the second quarter. He was released a couple of hours later and is expected back at work Monday.San Diego running back Melvin Gordon was blocked into the 69-year-old assistant by Miller, and Phillips was strapped to a backboard and carted off the field in a scary scene that concluded with him giving a thumbs-up on his way to the tunnel.With linebackers coach Reggie Herring taking over Denvers defensive calls, the Broncos had a goal-line stand in the closing minutes and picked off Rivers twice more in the second half.I got on the headset a couple of times and he told me shut the hell up, hes got it, said Kubiak, who gave Herring a game ball.BACKUP BACK UP: Cornerback Lorenzo Doss surrendered Travis Benjamins 14-yard touchdown catch and came down hard on his back. But he returned to the game and broke up Rivers fourth-down pass to tight end Hunter Henry in the closing minutes.OFF THE MARK: San Diego kicker Josh Lambo had a forgettable day by pushing a 45-yard field goal wide left just before halftime and watching Shaq Barrett block an extra point in the third quarter.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '