The Golden State Warriors will attempt to inch closer toward a guaranteed spot in the playoffs when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
The contest is the second of a home back-to-back for the Spurs, who dropped a 121-111 decision to the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
The Warriors (42-31) head to San Antonio for the fourth contest of a six-game road trip after a 111-95 win in New Orleans on Friday. Stephen Curry led Golden State’s balanced attack with 23 points in his return after missing the first two games of the trip (both losses) with what he called a “deep, serious contusion” to his pelvis.
Jimmy Butler collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors in the victory, with Jonathan Kuminga adding 16 points and Quinten Post hitting for 15. Golden State cemented the win by outscoring the Pelicans by 15 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’re clearly trying to get our rhythm back as a group,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “(This game and our win) will lead to that.”
The Warriors are in seventh place in the West, tied with the Clippers in record but currently in the play-in tournament because of Los Angeles’ three wins over Golden State this season. Both the Warriors and Clippers are just 2 1/2 games back of the fourth-place Lakers and in the hunt for not only a spot in the playoffs but also home court in the first round.
With nine games to play, the Warriors are a half-game clear of eighth place Minnesota and six games up on the ninth-place Dallas Mavericks.
Curry said that the pelvic injury was reminiscent of one he had in 2021. He said he can play but will “feel it for a while.”
“It just reminded me of 2021 when I fell into the stairs in Houston,” Curry said. “(This time it didn’t) break anything or have any bone damage. I can play, and I can’t make it worse as long as I don’t land on it again.”
The Spurs (31-42) went toe to toe with Boston on Saturday, getting a team-high 23 points from reserve Keldon Johnson, but still dropped their third consecutive game.
Stephon Castle added 22 points for San Antonio and now has 22 games with 20-plus points this season. No other rookie in the NBA even has half that many; Washington’s Alex Sarr is next with nine.
“We did a lot of the hard things well tonight, which against the team of Boston’s caliber is a task,” Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson said after the loss. “There’s a few times when I think some of the things that we could control, we let our guard down. You’re not going to be perfect, but overall, very pleased with the effort.”
San Antonio fell further off the pace for the final play-in spot in the West, 4 1/2 games behind the 10th-place Sacramento Kings with nine outings remaining.
The Spurs defeated Golden State 104-94 in San Antonio on Nov. 23 in the teams’ first meeting of the season. They will play a third time on April 9 in San Francisco.
–Field Level Media
