Hot shooting propels Spurs to victory in Golden State

Highlights from the Spurs win over the Warriors.

No Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell, no problem. The San Antonio Spurs shot the lights out against the Golden State Warriors en route to a 126-113 victory on the road. The win snapped a five-game losing streak to the Warriors, and was the first time San Antonio has won without Wembanyama this season.

The Spurs shot 17-33 from deep (51.5%) compared to Golden State’s 10-30 (33.3%) night. Consistently the ball was being moved from a good shot to a great shot for the Spurs, as they tallied 34 assists. Finally some of the Silver and Black’s shooters who had been cold, started to warm up. Since the All-Star break, the Spurs have shot 42.9% from three (best in the NBA.) Prior to that date, the Spurs shot 33.9% from three (worst in the NBA.)

Jeremy Sochan got the hot steak started for San Antonio. When Sochan is knocking down open threes, the defense is in for a long night. He hit two of them in the first quarter.

Sochan was extra aggressive with Wembanyama and Vassell out. Without their two leading scorers, they Spurs needed guys like Sochan to create offense. The second-year forward was able to produce as he scored 20 points, with 16 of them coming in the first half.

It was the Spurs sixth-man who would lead the team in scoring. Keldon Johnson played a big role for the Spurs off the bench, going for 22 points and 11 rebounds. His physicality finishing inside of the arc makes him a go-to option without Vassell and Wembanyama.

He’s also shooting the ball much better from three since the All-Star break. Johnson was 4-9 from deep on Saturday night, and is shooting 41.7% from three since the break.

Another player the Spurs needed to heat up was Julian Champagnie. He delivered on Saturday night, knocking down five of his eight threes for a 17-point performance.

He made an impact on the defensive end as well. Look at this great stuff on Klay Thompson, who had been killing the Spurs all game. It leads to a runout where the Spurs found the red hot Malaki Branham, who had 20 points on 7-15 shooting. Since the All-Star break, Branham is shooting over 50% from three. Every time he puts it up, it feels like it’s going to go down.

With Wembanyama, Vassell and Cedi Osman missing time, the Spurs had to expand their rotation to include the veteran, Devonte’ Graham. He heated up the game with his perimeter scoring and passing awareness. Graham had 8 points off the bench including this transition three, once again delivered by a disruptive defensive play on the other end.

Perhaps the player who impressed the most was Dominick Barlow, who was all over the place on both ends. Barlow finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block. After the game he told reporters this block on Andrew Wiggins was his favorite play of the game.

These two plays are indicative of Barlow’s impact on the game. He makes a strong defensive play deflecting the pass, sprints to the other end and makes himself available for the dunk. Barlow has a great motor and physical tools. As his touch continues to improve, he is going to develop into one heck of a player.

The Spurs and Warriors will both travel south to San Antonio for a rematch on Monday night.

Check out the full game highlights below.