On the second night time of a back-to-back, the Warriors spent too lengthy operating on empty to shut out the Spurs
After main by 17 late within the third quarter, Golden State fell aside. The Warriors didn’t convert a discipline aim for greater than six minutes of the fourth quarter. They received outscored by 25 within the final 12 minutes and 30 seconds, scoring a complete of 13 fourth-quarter factors.
The youthful Spurs had more energizing legs, and it confirmed of their 104-94 win over the Warriors (12-4). The Warriors wanted their youthful gamers to choose up the slack for his or her veterans, however Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, and Moses Moody didn’t do fairly sufficient to make up for Steph Curry (14 factors on 5-for-16 capturing) and Draymond Inexperienced’s quiet nights.
Maybe Jonathan Kuminga may have supplied sufficient particular person offense to maintain the Warriors afloat late, however he received scratched as a consequence of an sickness.
Victor Wembanyama scored a game-high 25 factors and added 9 assists, seven rebounds and three blocks. Rookie Stephon Fortress added 19, together with a number of large performs late.
The final time the Warriors blew a lead of at the very least 17 and misplaced was final January in opposition to the Nuggets.
To construct their lead, the Warriors went on each an 11-0 and 7-0 run in a convincing first quarter fueled by Andrew Wiggins (20 factors) and Buddy Hield. Wiggins dropped 10 within the opening interval and Hield added eight, passing Joe Johnson for nineteenth on the all-time 3-point leaderboard with a pair of early triples.
Golden State began 5-for-11 from behind the arc, however did a ton of injury within the paint. By sealing smaller defenders like Chris Paul beneath, the back-cuts and movement offense generated constant seems to be on the rim even with San Antonio shot-blockers Wembanyama and Zach Collins patrolling the lane.
Hield cashed one other 3 to start out the second quarter, then two Spurs closed out to him in a split-action, permitting him to dish an help for a slipping Trayce Jackson-Davis. The Spurs had been misplaced in Golden State’s free-flowing, outside-in offense.
However Steve Kerr needed to name a timeout after San Antonio ripped off 10 straight factors. Gregg Popovich wasn’t on the Spurs’ bench as he’s recovering from a stroke, however his group performed the kind of ball-movement basketball his best golf equipment have embraced.
Refocused, the Warriors constantly put Wembanyama in actions on the perimeter, drawing him away from the rim, forcing him to navigate screens, and making him assume. Wembanyama was enjoying in his first recreation after lacking the earlier three with a proper knee contusion, and the Warriors examined him on each ends.
Wiggins rainbowed a 3 over Wembanyama, giving the Warriors a 50-38 lead as the sport clock wound down within the first half. The Spurs’ 38 factors had been the fewest in any half for them this season, as Golden State’s defensive execution vastly improved from the night time prior.
Lindy Waters III, beginning his fifth straight recreation in De’Anthony Melton’s place, drilled a pair of 3s to halt a fleeting San Antonio push within the third quarter. The primary of his back-to-back 3s got here after two offensive rebounds — an space the Warriors managed till the fourth quarter.
The Warriors pushed their result in 17, bottling up Wembanyama and matching San Antonio’s vitality. However 5 straight factors, together with steal-and-score, from rookie Stephon Fortress introduced the Spurs again inside 10 getting into the fourth quarter.
Fortress’s sequence completely flipped the sport, and appeared to offer him confidence heading into the fourth.
Fortress performed stout protection on Curry all through the sport, limiting the two-time MVP to eight factors on 30% capturing by three quarters.
With Curry and Draymond Inexperienced on the bench to start out the ultimate interval, Golden State wanted its bench to construct up one other cushion. As a substitute, San Antonio went on a 10-4 run, slicing the deficit to 4.
So Curry and Inexperienced re-entered the sport sooner than regular, checking in with over eight minutes left. They’d performed 33 and half-hour, respectively, in New Orleans the night time earlier than.
Wembanyama inched San Antonio inside one with a 3, however Curry answered with a deep triple of his personal.
Fortress knifed inside to tie the sport at 90 with 4 minutes left — the Warriors’ eighth clutch recreation of the 12 months. Then Fortress drilled a 3, giving the Spurs their first lead for the reason that first basket of the sport.
The Warriors’ photographs saved falling brief. Jumps for rebounds didn’t get off the ground. The Warriors went scoreless for greater than 4 minutes, and Curry over-dribbled for a expensive turnover. Their 13 fourth-quarter factors was their lowest scoring interval of the season.
In a flash, the Warriors’ 17-point lead was an eight-point deficit. For the primary time this season, the Warriors collapsed and couldn’t discover their footing in time to regular themselves.
