Spurs set a franchise record for the best start as they roll over the Warriors
Ace forward Tim Duncan failed to get into double figures, but six other San Antonio players did not, as the Spurs trounced the Golden State Warriors 111-94 on a night they set the records tumbling.
With this win the Spurs won their 18th game of the season and have set a franchise record for best start (18-3) in a season through 21 games. To complement that, their win marked the 25th straight time the Spurs have downed the Warriors
at the AT&T Center which is the longest active streak of its kind for any NBA team against a single opponent.
Tony Parker led the charge for the Spurs with 19 points and 9 assists as San Antonio sent the Warriors crashing to their 10th defeat in the last eleven games.
The maverick guard who was 9 of 14 on field goals said after the match,
"We just try to play well at home, win as much games as we can because we know the second part of our schedule is going to be a lot of games on the road".
The highlight of the night though was Reggie Williams. The 6 ft 6” forward came off the bench to spark life into an otherwise subdued Warriors offense. He notched up career high 31 points, on an 11-for-16 shooting, and also nailed 8-for-10 from downtown.
The rest of his team only managed to shoot at 34 percent from the field.
For the Golden State coach he was the only bright spot on the night and he said in his post match conference,
"I thought Reggie (Williams) was good. I had a film session with him today. I shared with him that 'You look like you're not ready to play, and you're afraid to make a mistake on the floor,' and he saw that on film."
The Warriors had an upbeat start as they raced to 9-4 advantage inside the first three minutes, but, that was the last time the Warriors saw the lead as the Spurs bounced back with a 16-0 spurt to wrest the initial momentum.
The Spurs shot at 60 percent in the first quarter whereas the Warriors struggled at the other end.
Golden State though pulled the plug on their slide going into the second quarter as Williams started to let it rip. He scored 13 points as the Warriors pulled to within three with 1:24 to go till the break. The Spurs though were determined to make history
on their home turf as they reeled off a 18-4 run bridging the second and the third quarter to lead at 66-49.
The Warriors sprung back a little though as they outscored the Spurs 25-15 in the next nine minutes of the quarter before Tony Hill nailed in a 3-pointer and DeJuan Blair ripped in a jumper to hand an 86-74 advantage to the Spurs going into the last 12 minutes.
The Spurs raced to a 13-6 opening right at the start of the fourth quarter to quell all hopes of a Warriors comeback. The run culminated in a Gary Neal triple pointer that gave the Spurs their biggest lead of the match at 99-80.
It was all Spurs from there on as a Chris Quinn 3-pointer, 12 seconds from the buzzer gave San Antonio a 111-94 win.
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for 31 points and 17 assists while DeJuan Blair notched up a double-double scoring 15 points and 13 rebounds. George Hill came off the bench to net 17 points and Tiago Splitter finished with 12 points for the Spurs.
Reggie William had an excellent night but the rest of the Warriors did not. Rudy g*y, Dorrell Wright, Stephen Curry and David Lee, the four pillars of the Golden State outfit combined for only half of their points, at a terrible conversion rate of 19-for-51
from the field and also disappointed from beyond the arc with 3-for-12.
The loss not only ensured that the Warriors continue to slump in the season but it also came at the price of their star guard Stephen Curry. Curry was dribbling behind the 3-point line in the second quarter when he hunched over, called a timeout and fell
to the ground in pain. He sprained his right ankle and was carried off the court by his teammates.
Curry did not return for the match after that. Later the X-rays revealed that did not endure any major damage and the club thinks his injury is merely a sprain.
"Any time you lose a talent, you drop down three or four levels," Smart said after the match. "Not having him on the floor was definitely difficult because I had to move a lot of players around to positions to bring some of the younger guys off the bench
to play."
"You have very little room for error against a team like this team."
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