San Antonio vs. Golden State, Final Score: Spurs outlast Warriors, 111 – 105

The Spurs extend their win streak to nine against the short-handed Warriors.

The Spurs held off a furious Warriors team and a furious Warriors rally to remain the hottest team in the NBA. Behind good defense and limited turnovers to build a double-digit lead early on, the Spurs girded themselves at every turn because it always felt like the Warriors would explode at any moment. DeMar DeRozan carried the offense down the stretch and brought fond memories of early season DeRozan who would close out games for the Spurs.

At times, the dooming reality of a Warriors’ comeback felt prophetical due to bad transition defense on the Spurs’ part and offensive turnovers that allowed the Warriors to tie the game and threaten to blow it open late in the 3rd quarter. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry both at times looked unstoppable, but the good guys prevailed and kept grinding on defense to force the Warriors from staying in a lasting offensive rhythm. LaMarcus Aldridge gutted out 23 points and 13 rebounds while DeRozan beautifully iced the game down the stretch for the good guys and led all players with 26 points.

The Spurs picked the right time to peak and play great team basketball, and tonight it showed against the defending champs.

Aimless Observations:

Andrew Bogut made his return debut with the Warriors since he left in 2016. A lot has happened since 2016. They serve fast food in the White House now!
The Spurs had their regular season players available whereas the Warriors were without DeMarcus Cousin and Andre Iguodala due to injury and proactive dental care, respectively.
Derrick White was very aggressive with the ball, and it paid dividends for the sophomore phenom.
The game had 99% of a playoff feel because while the Spurs were doing everything right to hold off the Warriors behind a raucous crowd, the visitors were biding their time until the home team showed cracks to take advantage.
The Spurs mostly played good defense in this game due to active hands and multiple pass deflections.
The Warriors’ onslaught kept coming. Steph Curry in the 3rd quarter and then Klay Thompson took his turn in the fourth.
Davis Bertans struggled from three all night but waited until the end to make the most important one.
Speaking of threes, if DeMar DeRozan isn’t scoring, I am absolutely loving his continued team-leading assists to find teammates for open threes.
Kevin Durant was in foul trouble all night, which explained his “pedestrian” 24 points.