When they play the tail-spinning San Antonio Spurs at San Francisco on Friday night, the Golden State Warriors will end a four-game homestand.
The Warriors (40-37) have won four of their last five games, defeating the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Orleans Pelicans to move up to sixth place in the Western Conference, the last spot that is guaranteed to go to the first round of the playoffs.
They will be aiming to sweep the Spurs (19-57), who have won three of their last four games to win the season series. The Spurs have lost five of their last six games but no longer have a reason to lose because they have secured a place in the bottom three of the NBA standings.
At the NBA draft lottery, also known as the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, they are certain to join the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons as co-favorites with the same odds of selecting the French superstar.
There is a lot at stake when the Warriors arrive. They are currently one loss away from qualifying for the NBA play-in tournament and three losses ahead of the Mavericks, who are the West’s last remaining team, with five games remaining, three of which are on the road.
Tuesday, Golden State trailed the Pelicans by 20 points late in the first half and appeared headed for a second defeat in a row. However, Draymond Green’s emotional surge led to an electrifying comeback that resulted in a 120-109 victory.
After a run-in with Brandon Ingram following a flagrant foul in the second quarter, Green received his 17th technical foul. Later in the period, he could have been kicked out of the game if he got caught up with Herbert Jones on the ground near the basket.
When a second technical would have ended Green’s night and resulted in an automatic one-game suspension for having reached 18 goals for the season, a referee’s review cleared both.
Green only contributed 10 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists in Golden State’s two previous victories over the Spurs. Stephen Curry, who has scored 16 and 15 points in the two victories, did not either.
Jordan Poole scored 36 points with 25 rebounds, Jeremy Lamb scored 30 points, and Moses Moody scored 23 points to beat the Spurs, who surprisingly beat Golden State twice last season.
The Spurs are coming off a 128-117 home defeat to the Utah Jazz, in which they were without three of their best players: Keldon Johnson (management of an injury to his left foot), Devin Vassell (management of an injury to his left knee), and Jeremy Sochan (sore right knee).
Any and all of them could return to take on the Warriors.
After the loss, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said that how his team does is more important than who has done what individually.
