The San Antonio Spurs look to continue their most successful streak of the season and throw a monkey wrench into the postseason plans of the Golden State Warriors when the teams battle Sunday in San Antonio.
The Spurs (18-56) have won a season-high three straight games, with the latest victory a rousing 130-126 OT result over New York on Friday.
Rookie star Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 40 points, grabbed 20 rebounds (tying a career best) and dished out seven assists (all team-highs) to help San Antonio overcome the 61-point performance from the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson.
Wembanyama’s free throws at the end of regulation pushed the game into the extra period and his 3-pointer late in overtime produced the contest’s deciding points.
“You can feel how it was different than how we were earlier in the year when we let teams back in the game like that,” San Antonio guard Tre Jones said. “We stayed together as a group. We continued to fight on the defensive end.”
Devin Vassell added 23 points and seven assists and Keldon Johnson scored 17 points in Friday’s win. San Antonio led by 17 points at halftime before New York’s rally.
“All teams lose leads in this league — the 3-point shot allows for that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “But how you come back from it is important.
“If it was earlier in the year we would not have sustained our own execution, our own pace and that sort of thing. You can see the maturity that (the Spurs) have developed through the season.”
The Warriors (39-34) head to San Antonio carrying their own three-game winning streak and clinging to 10th place in the Western Conference, a game ahead of the surging Houston Rockets in the race for the last spot in the play-in tournament with nine regular-season contests to play.
Golden State defeated Charlotte 115-97 on Friday to move to 1-3 on its five-game road that ends Sunday against the Spurs. Stephen Curry paced the Warriors with 23 points. Andrew Wiggins scored 20, Trayce Jackson-Davis added 18, Moses Moody chipped in 15 off the bench and Chris Paul finished with 11.
“We had 35 assists, guys really did a good job of sharing the ball and creating good scoring opportunities for each other,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought the defense was pretty good for the most part. So another good road win.”
The Warriors led by five at the break but ripped off a 39-point third quarter that featured an 11-0 run. Golden State played without guard Klay Thompson (knee) and forward Jonathan Kuminga, who missed his second straight game due to left knee tendinitis.
It’s the first time this season that the Warriors have held three straight opponents under 100 points. Golden State is now 8-0 this season when holding the opposition to fewer than triple digits.
“We’re talking a little bit more,” Paul said about Golden State’s defense. “Starting to get in the right spots. I think we’re showing what we’re capable of when we defend.”
The Warriors have won two of the first three games against San Antonio this season.
–Field Level Media
