Derrick White and Dejounte Murray propel the surging Spurs past the Warriors

The San Antonio Spurs kept things rolling against the first-place Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, putting forth their best performance of the season on their way to extending their winning streak to four games.

Dejounte Murray and Derrick White pestered perennial MVP candidate Steph Curry all night long while dropping a combined 48 points. Lonnie Walker IV snapped his cold spell, chipping in 21 points off the bench.

Although head coach Steve Kerr and company erased what was once a 22-point deficit, the Silver and Black never caved and responded with a 9-1 run down the stretch that sealed an impressive road victory.

Keldon Johnson has been torching the net from beyond the arc over the last month, and the third-year forward retained the hot hand against the Warriors with a catch-and-shoot triple that gave the Spurs an early lead.

Derrick White showed off his otherworldly defensive anticipation, coming up with a no-look steal on a would-be backdoor cut from Steph Curry before going coast to coast and converting a tough and-one at the basket.

Dejounte Murray continued putting on a pick-and-roll masterclass, hitting Jakob Poeltl with a perfect pocket pass and watching the seven-footer give his best Manu Ginobili impression with a supersized euro-step.

Lonnie Walker IV snapped out of his shooting slump as the ball ended up in his hands with the shot clock winding down after San Antonio narrowly escaped a couple of careless turnovers in search of the open man.

The fourth-year guard continued to build some much-needed momentum, taking advantage of a complete lack of defensive communication from the Warriors to stroll down the paint for an uncontested finger-roll.

Keldon was up to his usual tactics of attacking the cup as he drove down the lane, hit Nemanja Bjelica with a mean right-to-left crossover, and then tossed up a feathery left-handed layup that kissed of the backboard.

Even veteran three-point specialist Doug McDermott aggressively took it to the hole against the Warriors, displaying some impressive mid-air ball manipulation on his way to a hoop-and-harm.

White was a pest on the defensive end all night long, using his six-eight wingspan to cause havoc in the passing lanes before running a one-man fastbreak and absorbing the contact for another and-one opportunity.

Opposing teams still haven’t got the memo that it is unwise to challenge Jakob Poeltl around the rim, and the Austrian center effortlessly swatted a weak reverse layup from Steph Curry as the MVP frontrunner struggled to get going.

You won’t catch former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green ball watching often, but Doug McDermott relocated on the outside and capitalized on a rare defensive miscue to knock down a wide-open three-pointer.

Poeltl continued to remind everyone why he is among the premier shot blockers in the NBA, making a furious pursuit of Juan Toscano-Anderson in transition and walking away with an impressive chase-down erasure.

Dejounte Murray is one of the few guys you can’t afford to have a shaky handle around, and he made Steph Curry suffer the consequences as he snagged the loose ball for one of his patented steal-and-slams.

The Big Body barreled his way through Juan Toscano-Anderson and into the heart of the paint, rattling home a difficult floater off the glass that ultimately helped keep a furious Golden State comeback at bay.

Though Derrick has battled with shooting woes all season long, the fifth-year combo guard stepped up with some late-game heroics, draining an above-the-break trifecta that put San Antonio back on top.

Murray has been the de facto closer for the Silver and Black this season, and the spindly floor general answered their call yet again with a clutch go-ahead bucket in traffic that effectively iced the game.

And as always, here are the full-game highlights.

[embedded content]

Leave a Reply