The San Antonio Spurs failed to redeem themselves for Wednesday’s home loss to the Warriors, losing again to the same outfit on Friday in Emirates Cup play. Incessant turnovers and inability to get the half-court offense flowing doomed them.
Mitch Johnson was forced to call the first stoppage as the Warriors scored eight of their initial 11 points in the lane. He substituted Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox out for Luke Kornet and Keldon Johnson, but Stephen Curry kept shredding the half-court defense before taking a breather with 10 points. On top of that, the Spurs had the intensity of a late-morning shootaround and were careless with the ball, losing it six times and almost matching as many made field goals (7).
They went into the second quarter with a two-point lead because their visitors missed makeable shots, partly because of the fast pace tiring them, and being helpless to bend coverages without Curry. San Antonio’s turnover problem went unresolved, as they coughed it up seven more times, and Curry rained two extra treys. Still, they were only down 47-45 at halftime, having gotten a boost from the transition defense, preventing easy baskets, and securing the restricted area to 36.4 percent shooting.
Subsequently Wembanyama caught fire in the second half, throwing the ball off the backboard and slamming it himself. He carried on draining jumpers and swatting passes and shots in the lane. Fox, Devin Vassell and Harrison Barnes got in on the action as they had their best offensive sequence of the game. Yet Curry was unrestrainable, tallying the last 14 points in a row for Golden State to end the period.
The fourth quarter started with the Spurs up two points, following 10 lead changes and 12 ties. The defense raised its intensity by 50°, speeding up the Warriors and forcing a shot clock violation. Wembanyama even forced the fifth foul on Draymond Green on the other side, crippling their help defense, plus the Spurs were in the bonus for the last seven-and-a-half minutes of the game.
But on schedule, a late Curry flurry of jumpers and layups ignited his teammates, flipping the script on the Spurs, as they snatched the lead multiple times. Curry took the final lead at the line after getting fouled in transition. The best play the Spurs drew up to win it, resulted in a low percentage step-back shot for Fox that bricked.