SAN ANTONIO —
Game Story
First Quarter
Doug McDermott cut in for a layup off a feed from Dejounte to start the scoring for San Antonio, then drilled a three on a pass from Derrick White. Murray dished an assist to Poeltl, then Keldon Johnson drove in for two, then Murray ripped a steal and McDermott got his second three of the game, making it 15-8 Spurs.
Derrick drove in and floated one home, then Dejounte snaked through the paint for a tough layup. Murray missed another in close, but poked it away and set up a Jak dunk off a pass from White.
Keldon attacked a closeout and lofted in a layup, then Lonnie Walker IV collapsed the defense and found Devin Vassell for three. Murray coughed it up, but immediately stole it back before grabbing an offensive board. Jock Landale missed in the post, but Primo put it back in. Primo stole the ball, then Lonnie drained a three to make it a 10-point game.
San Antonio led 36-30 after the first.
Second Quarter
Primo passed to Vassell to open the quarter with San Antonio's sixth three. Golden State clawed back, but White found Primo in the corner for another three.
Poeltl got hit in the chops, then dribbled in from the arc and crammed home a dunk. He got a steal and a block at the rim, and Vassell hit free throws before assisting on a layup by Dejounte. Again the Warriors fought back, but this time it was Murray draining a three to stem the tide. Murray then found Johnson for a stand-still three, forcing a timeout by the Dubs. His next bucket was a drive off a pump fake.
Murray blocked a shot, then helped create a steal before hitting a pull-up jumper. He poked away another pass to force a turnover he didn't get credit for on the stat sheet. He drove in again and kissed it off the glass and in.
Walker found Vassell for three, then Keldon forced his way through the defense for a layup. DJ split the entire team to put the Spurs in front 11 with another layup, but San Antonio lost track of Moses Moody, who hit his fourth triple of the game. San Antonio led 69-61 at the break.
Third Quarter
Jakob Poeltl remained in the locker room after sustaining a hit to the head, and Golden State ripped off an 11-4 run to start the second half, closing the gap to just one point. Keldon hit a layup, then a three. Then Derrick hit a pair of triples, and then it was Murray's turn to hit a couple at the rim.
Murray found Keldon for another three, then got it back to Lonnie for an up and under after Walker smashed a block, making it a dozen-point lead.
Vassell dropped in the 15th San Antonio triple of the game off a feed from Lonnie, then Walker cut to the hoop for a big dunk. Then he blew by the defense for a difficult finish through contact to make it 17.
San Antonio led 104-89 with 12 minutes left.
Fourth Quarter
The Warriors refused to go away, starting the final period on a 13-6 run to cut it to single digits.
Derrick White hit a cutting Keita Bates-Diop for a dunk, but the Dubs were able to inch within six points. Murray drove, stopped, and popped it in from the stripe.
Primo tried a corner three that would have pushed the advantage to double digits, but it clanged off the iron. Golden State didn't miss their next three, and that made it a five-point game.
Out of a timeout, the Warriors hit another three to make it a two-point game. San Antonio went small to close the game, with Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell.
Jonathan Kuminga drove in for a layup to tie it, Murray threw his sixth turnover, and the Dubs got an open three for the lead with 2:01 to play. It was an 11-0 Warriors run as San Antonio failed to score for over four minutes.
Keldon got to the line for a couple of free throws to settle things down. Golden State got an offensive board and a fantastic shot, but Murray was having none of it. He put the Spurs in front on the other end, and Jordan Poole answered. Murray hit from 15 feet for the lead again, but the Spurs couldn't secure an offensive board and gave up an open three.
The Warriors led 122-120 with 18 seconds left. Vassell missed the three for the lead, and the Warriors got it back.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (19-32) will host the Golden State Warriors (38-13) tonight. The Spurs are 1-0 this season versus the Warriors and Golden State enters tonight's game on a six-game win streak.
Steve Kerr will be without all of the current and former All Stars on his roster on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Spurs will get Dejounte Murray, Jakob Poeltl and Derrick White back after they stayed home for the last game. When asked about Murray's All Star chances, Kerr said he voted for the point guard as a reserve.
"I voted for him, that's how I feel about him," Kerr said. "He's a great player, great great player. He makes the Spurs go, you can see it on tape, you can see when he's doing his thing that's when they're at their best. I think he's an All Star, I cast my ballot in that way."
In their previous game, the Spurs lost to the Suns, 115-110.
Doug McDermott led the team with 24 points off 6-9 from the three-point line. Lonnie Walker IV had 22 points and Keldon Johnson ended the night with 16 points.
"I thought we were great. Couldn't ask for more. Down the stretch, their [Suns] experience showed. I'm thrilled with how we played. I thought our guys were spectacular," Gregg Popovich said.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Spurs are 0-12 at home when trailing after the third period.
2. The Spurs have made more three-pointers than their opponents in five-straight games.
3. The Spurs are 11-19 versus West teams this season averaging 111.6 points per game in those contests.
4. Golden State has a 5-3 record in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
5. The Warriors improve to 11-0 this season when scoring 120-or-more points.
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