SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors and San Antonio Spurs played for a long time Friday night, like two teams waking up from a Thanksgiving nap. The Chase Center crowd cannot be excluded from that conversation.
It was a struggle at times, but the Warriors ultimately came out on top, defeating the Spurs 118-112 in the NBA In-Season Tournament West Group C game.
The Warriors improved to 2-1 on the intramurals, and their matchup against the Kings on Tuesday in Sacramento has major implications for who wins the Division C and advances to the quarterfinals.
The Warriors, Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves are 2-1 in division play with one game remaining. After the Timberwolves lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, the winner of the Warriors-Kings game at the Golden 1 Center won Group C.
Steph Curry led the way with 35 points on 11-20 shooting and 7 of 13 3-pointers behind 11 points in the third quarter, 12 points in the fourth quarter and 23 points in the second half. Curry now has 200 career games with at least six 3-pointers in a game.
The next closest player has 97 games.
Spurs rookie star Victor Wembanyama was close to a double-double with 22 points and eight rebounds, but his six turnovers were more than any other player.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors that could improve to 8-9 on the season and enter the in-season tournament.
Starting the lineup change
The Warriors have found little consistency in the starting lineup early this season. In the 17th game of the year, Steve Kerr sent Chris Paul to the bench and made Moses Moody the starter. Moody is joined by Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevin Looney.
That five-man group entered the night with a combined 29 minutes played in five games and a 109.5 offensive rating and a 98.4 defensive rating of 11.1. They stayed together in the first quarter until Chris Paul replaced Moody and Dario Saric came on for Looney at the 5:48 mark. At the time, the Warriors were winning 21-17 and Wembanyama was set to take two free kicks. Going to the bench first, Moody was the Warriors’ leading scorer with a perfect 3-for-3 shooting.
Kerr’s decision didn’t quite work out.
Curry, Moody, Wiggins, Thompson and Looney spent 11 minutes and 33 seconds on the court together and won by 10 minus 34-24. They shot 9 of 19 (47.4 percent), but the Spurs shot 14 of 25 (56 percent). Moody played 17 minutes and was 6-6 overall, but scored nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting.
Paul once again organized the bench perfectly. The 19-year-old veteran had a game-high 14-plus points in 29 minutes with 10 assists and one goal.
The return of GP2
Size and height mean nothing to Gary Payton II. Basketball is another challenge for the greatest trash talker of all time. The second quarter was the last example.
Even for someone listed 14 inches longer than the GP2.
As Wembanyama looked to finish off a brilliant game from behind, Peyton had other ideas, slotting his attempt into the stands.
Perhaps Peyton’s lightning-quick burst is what the Warriors need most. They trailed 46-41 at the time and held an 18-9 advantage the rest of the second quarter, going into halftime to within 59-55. That’s the impact Payton has on games, whenever he’s healthy.
Payton aired a 3-pointer shortly after entering the game. so what. His energy is irreplaceable, and could be the key ingredient the Warriors need to pull off a victory.
Super Dario does it again
There’s a fair argument to be made that the Warriors’ second-best offensive player this season, at least so far, is playing on a veteran’s minimum contract. General manager Mike Dunleavy was desperate to sign Dario Saric in free agency. Sarik shows why.
Thompson scored just two points in the second half. Both went to the free throw line in the final 13 seconds. Thompson scored 15 points on 3-of-11 shooting and made just three of his seven 3-point attempts. Andrew Wiggins had just 10 points in the win.
Saric scored 20 points in 26 minutes off the bench to become the Warriors’ second-leading scorer. The stretch big man was shooting 7 of 11 overall and 4 of 7 from long range. Saric also added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. His plus-11 was second only to Paul.
It was Saric’s third game of 20 or more points this season. Saric has averaged 18.3 points on 60 percent shooting (18 of 30) over the last three games, 18 points, 17 points and then 20 in Friday night’s win.
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