The Golden State Warriors will be riding high after a huge win when they host the surging San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in San Francisco.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Golden State beat Phoenix 118-96, snapping the Suns’ franchise-record, 18-game winning streak.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 23 points. Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II added 19 each, Juan Toscano-Anderson contributed 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Jordan Poole tallied 14 points in the victory.
Golden State handed the Suns, who played without star guard Devin Booker, their first loss since Oct. 27, avenged a 104-96 loss at Phoenix on Tuesday and improved its home record to an NBA-best 12-1, having won its past 11 in San Francisco.
The Warriors led by just three points at halftime but stretched the advantage to a dozen at the end of the third quarter. Golden State put away the game in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 24 points before emptying the bench.
“It’s all about us right now,” Curry said afterward. “We know (Phoenix has) been on a hot streak and Tuesday didn’t go our way. We’ve learned a lot in terms of how you beat a great team like that. We still have a lot of room to grow. It’s just about us and how we correct the mistakes that we did earlier in the week.”
The Spurs head to the Bay Area after an impressive 114-83 win in Portland on Thursday that extended their season-best winning streak to three games.
Bryn Forbes led San Antonio with 18 points off the bench. The Spurs never trailed, amassing a double-digit lead in the first quarter that they built to as much as 27 early in the third period. Portland clawed back to within 12 points in the fourth quarter but it was far too little, too late.
Spurs forward Doug McDermott returned from missing four games with a knee injury to score 16 points. Dejounte Murray tallied 15 points and distributed 13 assists for San Antonio in the victory, with Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl scoring 14 points apiece and Derrick White hitting for 12.
“We had a great night, obviously,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We started out making shots, and that makes everything easier. We made a lot of shots in the first half, but I thought we also had a good physical defensive presence. We had good pace on offense and the shots went down. So in that sense, we had a good night, and we sustained the lead.”
Forbes didn’t play in the first half, doing all of his damage late in the third quarter and in the final period.
“(Forbes) has got all the confidence in the world,” McDermott said of his teammate. “He’s a great weapon to have off the bench when you have a guy like that who can come in and change the game instantly.”
San Antonio’s Devin Vassell (right quad contusion) and Keita Bates-Diop (right ankle sprain) are doubtful for Saturday game.
