San Antonio Spurs Rest Stars in Loss to Golden State Warriors

The San Antonio Spurs fell to 2-3 on their rodeo road trip on Friday night, falling to the Golden State Warriors 110-99.

Tim Duncan and company took a two point lead after the end of the first quarter but head coach Gregg Popovich decided to pull the plug on the game later, resting his big-three following a game the night previous against the Los Angeles Clippers.

February 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard

(19) dribbles the basketball against San Antonio Spurs forward

(3, left) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

After electing to give his role players some extra minutes to sit his starters, the game got ugly for the Popovich’s squad. The Warriors outscored the Spurs over the middle two quarters 62-39, turning a two point deficit at the end of the first into a 21 point lead heading into the first.

Hot-shooting, especially from deep, was the key for Golden State in the win. The Warriors connected on 17-of-33 three’s while also shooting 48.8% from the field. San Antonio shot a similar percentage from the field at 48.1%, but, their minus-11 in three pointers made, only 6-of-19 on the night, ended up being the difference in this one.

In addition to shooting the ball well from the field, both teams did an excellent job of getting to the line. The Spurs attempted 20 free throws on the night while the Warriors made it to the charity stripe 18 times.

Stellar passing was also on display as the teams combined for 54 assists on the night.

Leading the way for Golden State was their MVP candidate Stephen Curry, who helped his case for the best player in the league award by recording a 25 point, 11 assist double-double.

The second member of the “Splash Bros,” Klay Thompson, also played well finishing with 20 points.

For the Spurs, with Pop electing to generously split playing time among his role players, it was a true team effort. No San Antonio player finished with more than 12 points or over 25 minutes played.

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Aron Baynes was one of those players who finished in double-digits, collecting 12 points along with 10 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard picked up 12 points as well in this one.

With the loss, their second straight, the Spurs fell to 34-21 on the season. The Warriors improved their league-leading record to 43-9 with the win.

Next up for San Antonio is another road game, this time against the Utah Jazz. The game is scheduled for Monday 8 p.m. CT.

What do you think about the Spurs loss to the Warriors? Should Pop have played his starters more given San Antonio’s position in the Western Conference? Let us know in the comments!

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