San Antonio Spurs: Warriors game presents rare opportunity

The San Antonio Spurs will face an injury-ridden Golden State Warriors team Monday. It’s the opportunity to cash-in on a win and move up in the standings.

In three matchups vs. the Golden State Warriors this season, the San Antonio Spurs dropped each of them. That included the Mar. 8 matchup, when the Spurs held a lead late, only for Kevin Durant to take over and give his team a 110-107 victory.

For one last time, on Monday, the Silver and Black will face the Warriors. However, it’s possible Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant all sit out due to injuries. Curry hurt his right ankle earlier this month; Thompson has a fractured right thumb and will miss; Durant has a rib fracture and it out for at least two weeks.

The closest return, Curry, will not be re-evaluated until Mar. 20, the day after the Spurs game. That’s according to Yahoo’s Shams Charania.

Warriors star Stephen Curry will remain out and be re-evaluated on March 20 as he continues to progress with his tweaked right ankle.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 14, 2018

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The Warriors can’t be counted out, though, with Draymond Green available to play and the recent rise of guard Quinn Cook, who scored 28 points in 40 minutes vs. the Phoenix Suns. Andre Iguodala, Nick Young, Kevon Looney, Shaun Livingston and David West all delivered double-digit point games, as well.

Even though Golden State brings scoring depth to the table, it’s the final time the Spurs can cash-in on this team, without their top three scorers. This never happened in previous matchup against the 2017 NBA Champions, and might not again, barring another unusual circumstance, like this. San Antonio likely will not have Kawhi Leonard back, either, but they recently got hot at the right time, and have a healthy roster to show for it. Three wins and two full games ahead of the No. 9 spot later, the Spurs sit tied for No. 5 (at No. 7 due to tiebreakers) and can still finish as high as No. 3 in the Western Conference.

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Can the Spurs take advantage of a one-time-only opportunity? Let’s see at 9:30 p.m. ET Monday.