The San Antonio Spurs hosted the defending Western Conference champions, the Golden State Warriors, on a Wednesday night meeting at the fully packed AT&T Center. In their previous two meetings this season, the Spurs beat the Warriors by an average of nearly 26 points. The way this game started almost every Spurs fan expected the same outcome, but "The Splash Brothers" had other ideas.
Spurs red hot early in the game
The home team came out ready to play, taking an early 15-0 lead, and with five minutes left in the first quarter the lead was 23-3.
The Spurs seemed more poised and quicker to every loose ball early in the game. "They definitely blitzed us," said Warriors power forward Draymond Green. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game: "I thought the Spurs' defense was amazing in the first quarter." Coming off a victory on a Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors looked fatigued, but in the second quarter they turned it on. They scored 37 points in a huge second quarter and were down only three points at half time (57-54).
Great defense in the second half
After giving up 57 points in first two quarters, the Warriors held the Spurs to only 41 points in the second half. Their defense was a key part as they won this big game on the road 110-98.
Last years' MVP Stephen Curry scored 29 points, and his backcourt partner Klay Thompson chipped in with 23. As a team Golden State was 13 for 26 from behind the arc, and they have now won nine games in a row. After the game was over, Stephen Curry had this to say: "Based on the experiences we've had over the last two years, we know that we have what it takes to win all sorts of ways."
Kawhi Leonard led the way for San Antonio with 19 points, while Pau Gasol added 18 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Spurs had 14 turnovers.
The Warriors stand alone now at the top of the Western Conference, 3 and a half games ahead of the Spurs for that number one seed in the playoffs. With only seven games left in the regular season, the Warriors are hoping that securing the number one spot in the West will take them one step closer to winning one more championship.
