On Saturday night, the San Antonio Spurs sent the Golden State Warriors reeling, as the Dubs lost 104-94. The final score absolutely does not tell the whole story, as the Warriors led by as many as 17 points in the second half, and Stephen Curry was held to only 14 points by Spurs' rookie Stephon Castle.
With a minute left in the third quarter, the Warriors were up, 81-64. For the next 13 minutes, they were outscored, 40-13, and ended up losing by ten points in a dramatic, demoralizing finish.
As usual, Steve Kerr threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Spurs, playing 11 players at least 12 minutes. Jonathan Kuminga missed the game due to illness and De'Anthony Melton is out for the season with an ACL injury, but other than that, everyone played extended minutes. The Spurs, on the other hand, played ten players but relied on their starters a lot more than the Warriors.
Usually, that would result in Golden State staying fresh and well-rested, but the young legs on the Spurs, especially Castle and Victor Wembanyama, had no problem keeping up down the stretch.
"They were so good in that fourth quarter, defensively, flying around," said Kerr after the game. "[Wembanyama] was amazing, blocking shots, and thwarting others...we ran out of gas."
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After outshooting the Spurs the entire night, the Warriors made only 21 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter, while the Spurs shot 52 percent from the floor after being cold for much of the night. Weirdly, the Spurs got better as the game went on, turning the Warriors' strategy over on itself.
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