Steve Kerr came into this season with a plan that was designed exclusively for Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the oldest men on the Warriors’ roster. The coach saw an opportunity to lean into his agenda Saturday night in San Antonio.
With the Warriors taking a 17-point lead over the Spurs into the final two minutes of the third quarter, Curry and Green were watching from the bench. Kerr hoped to keep them there.
That’s his plan. If the Warriors are playing on consecutive nights, as they were in San Antonio, Curry and Green would either sit one of the games or their minutes would be curtailed. An 81-64 lead over the rebuilding Spurs was playing into Kerr’s plan.
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Until the Spurs demolished it. With the bench fading and the Spurs closing within four with 8:06 left, Kerr was compelled to summon Curry and Green for the final eight minutes.
Their rescue efforts were no match for the rampaging Spurs. The Warriors scored 13 points over the final 13:55, San Antonio responded with 40 and Golden State headed to the airport wearing a 104-94 defeat.
“A disappointing loss because we had control of the game mid-third and it felt like we were about to break it open,” Kerr told reporters at Frost Bank Center. “But we didn’t.”
That 33-13 rout in the fourth told quite the tale. The Warriors in the fourth shot 21.1 percent from the field, including 20 percent beyond the arc. They committed four turnovers, off which San Antonio scored seven points.
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The Spurs, held to 41.9-percent shooting, including 25.7 percent from deep, through three quarters, recovered to shoot 52.2/33.3 percent in the fourth. They outrebounded the Warriors 14-11 and committed only two turnovers.
Star center Victor Wembanyama dominated, with 12 points, five assists and two blocks in 11 minutes.
“The way that the third quarter ended was a killer,” Kerr said. “We had a 15-point lead and the ball with 35 seconds [remaining], so we're going to get a 2-for-1 and hopefully go up 17 going into the fourth. And then we get a turnover, and they score five in a row, so it’s a 10-point game going into the fourth. That was a key moment momentum wise, and I thought they earned it, the Spurs did, finishing the quarter like they did and then dominating the fourth.”
Curry, who played 33 minutes in a 112-108 win over the Pelicans in New Orleans one night earlier, had an utterly forgettable evening: 14 points, 5-of-16 shooting from the field, including 3 of 10 from deep. He played 24 minutes through three quarters, and his eight in the fourth were wretched: six points, six field-goal attempts, two rebounds, three turnovers and a telling minus-14.
Curry, listed as “probable” on the injury report with left knee bursitis, was productive enough to post plus-18 through three quarters.
Green, who played 30 minutes on Friday night, was no better. The fourth quarter was a disaster. He made 1 of 2 from the line, grabbed two rebounds, recorded one assist and committed three fouls in seven minutes. He was minus-12 for the quarter.
Though Green was scoreless through the first three quarters, he managed to be plus-12 over his first 20 minutes.
Neither of Golden State’s decorated vets had anything to offer.
“I’m sure everyone is [tired],” Andrew Wiggins, who scored a team-high 20 points, said. “If not mentally, physically. If not physically, mentally. One or the other.
“But that’s the NBA. That’s basketball.”
This was Golden State’s first back-to-back road set of the 2024-25 NBA season. The next one is Jan. 9-10 at Detroit and Indiana, with three more in the second half. There is time to get to make necessary adjustments.
“We’re still figuring some stuff out,” Wiggins said. “Today would be a perfect example, especially down the stretch, us executing, getting what we want when we want it. But then they made it hard on us.”
Golden State’s bench, without Jonathan Kuminga (illness) in San Antonio, has been a strength. It played mostly to form through three quarters before withering late.
That and the Spurs’ late energy forced Kerr to deviate from his plan for Curry and Green. It still is appropriate and will remain in effect, but this night made it apparent that the team’s celebrated depth must continue to grow.