In Steph the Warriors trust.
This has been a very good formula for more than a decade, and it served them well once again Friday night.
Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 49 points, willing and dragging and pulling the Warriors to a 109-108 victory over the Spurs at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
Jimmy Butler III put in 19 points, with Will Richard and Brandin Podziemski each adding 10, but their efforts were totally overshadowed by Curry’s spectacular performance.
Trailing by 10 with 6:51 remaining, Golden State’s search for the momentum that would come with successive wins over a high-quality team was in doubt. The Warriors outscored San Antonio 24-13 over the final 6:42 to close out the triumph.
Here are three observations from a second consecutive feel-good road win, this one in an Emirates Cup game, for the Warriors, who improve to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in group play:
Chef cooks again
The Warriors basically left it up to Curry to carry them to a two-game sweep of the Spurs. Darned if he didn’t come through.
Curry scored 31 points in the second half – exactly half of the 62 points Golden State managed after intermission. His 49 points came on 16-of-26 shooting from the field, including 9-of-17 from beyond the arc and 8-of-8 from the line, including a pair of clinching free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining.
Curry scored 14 consecutive points for the Warriors to close the third quarter, which ended with them trailing 79-77. He scored 10 in a row in less than two minutes midway through the fourth quarter.
This was Curry’s 44th game with at least 40 points since his 30th birthday. That ties him with Michael Jordan for most in NBA history after that birthday. Coming off a 46-point outburst on Tuesday, this marks the first time since Nov. 11, 2022 that Curry posted back-to-back games with at least 40 points.
Bench shows signs of life
Coming into San Antonio this week, Golden State’s bench had been among the most productive in the league, averaging 40.2 points per game.
That group managed only 23 points in a 125-120 victory Wednesday night and further declined on Friday, finishing with only 19 points while San Antonio’s reserves put in 27.
After scoring only seven points in the first half, Golden State’s bench came alive in the second half, putting in 12 points – six each by Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski.
Podziemski entered the game shooting 12-of-34 from the field, including 6-of-17 from deep over his last five games. After missing five of his first six shots, he drained a pair of triples in the fourth quarter.
Payton, who was struggled with his shot all season, drilled two 3-pointers inside the final five minutes.
The question now is whether the Warriors’ bench can make up for the loss of Moses Moody, the team’s top bench scorer, moving into the starting lineup. Any recovery begins with Buddy Hield, who was scoreless for the first time this season and is averaging 5.4 points last 11 games) points over his last 12 games.
Steph could’ve used a little more help
The Warriors shot 28 percent from the field, including 16.7 percent from beyond the arc, in the first quarter. It got better, but not by much.
While Curry, Butler and Richard went into halftime with a combined 38 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field, including 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, their teammates combined for nine points on 3-of-26 shooting, including 2-of-13 from deep.
It got better in the second half, with the Warriors scoring 62 points after a 47-point first half. But Curry’s teammates accounted for only 31 of those points, on 11-of-27 shooting from the field, including 4-of-10 from deep.
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