Stephen Curry and Warriors come back to rout Spurs.
After trailing by 19, Golden State focuses and rolls
SAN ANTONIO — Watching from the bench as their Warriors teammates finished off the Spurs for a 112- 92 win Thursday night at AT& T Center, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant discussed the inherent challenges of trying to defend an NBA title.
“It’s tough for it to still be early November, and you’re looking forward to April, May and June,” Curry recalled telling Durant. “But understanding what it takes to win a championship, it’s kind of cliche, but every game you can learn a little bit about yourself and continue
to build great habits to get there.”
The latest lesson: To dig out of a 19- point, first- half hole against one of its biggest Western Conference threats, Golden State must look like the team that led the league in defensive efficiency last season.
The Warriors opened Thursday’s game sluggishly and surrendered 33 first- quarter points. Over the final 36 minutes, they limited San Antonio to 59 points on 35 percent shooting. Durant, who admittedly struggled to focus as he started 0- for- 8 from the field, made nine of his final 10 shots and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
After committing at least 16 turnovers in each of its first seven games, Golden State has totaled 26 over its past two, including 14 on Thursday. To ensure the Warriors’ fifth win in six games, Curry ( 21, eight rebounds, four assists), Klay Thompson ( 27 points) and Draymond Green ( 16 points, seven assists) eased Durant’s load.
“You have to be able to match the Spurs’ intensity, especially because they’re such a good rebounding team,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said. “Once we started competing and running and pushing the ball, we got into a good groove.”
It all signaled more progress for a Warriors team that is dealing with a central question: How does it play well enough to win regular- season games while concentrating on winning another championship?
Little more than 24 hours after fumbling away a 14- point, third- quarter lead in Sunday’s home loss to Detroit, Golden State delivered its most complete performance in a 141- 113 rout of the Clippers at Staples Center. Nagging problems — mental lapses, an inability to box out, uninspired defense — resurfaced Thursday against a San Antonio team without Kawhi Leonard ( right quadriceps injury) and Tony Parker ( left quadriceps injury).
Midway through the first quarter, after barreling through Curry, guard Danny Green strode into the key and hammered home a one- handed dunk over the outstretched arm of Durant. About four minutes later, Kerr, upset with a no- call, unleashed on a referee and picked up a technical while associate head coach Mike Brown held him back.
Three nights after shooting 58.4 percent from the field against L. A., the Warriors trailed 31- 12 late in the first period. They then forced four turnovers during a 12- 2 run to trim the deficit to nine by the end of the quarter.
“It all came down to our ability to focus, especially on the defensive end, and not fouling,” Thompson said. “When we do that, we are able to get out in transition and get easy buckets.”
Durant made six shots in a row, including a three- pointer from the top of the arc to give Golden State its first lead of the game, 60- 57, early in the third. After guard Patrick McCaw’s three- pointer put the Warriors up 11 points with 4: 47 left in the game, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich — apparently upset that McCaw wasn’t called for traveling — tore into the referees and was ejected. A little more than a minute later, Curry and Durant took their seats on the bench.
The focus of their conversation — concentrating on the present, a tricky task for a team built for the playoffs — figures to be a common theme.
“You’ve got to encourage yourself to get through the gauntlet of an NBA season, because night in, night out, it can be tough at times to find that motivation,” Curry said. “At the end of the day, if we want to win a championship, that’s what we’ll have to do.”