Warriors at Spurs
The Golden State Warriors put up a good fight against the San Antonio Spurs before falling short in six games in the Western Conference semifinals last spring. The Warriors will get an early chance to see how they stack up against the Spurs this season when they visit San Antonio on Friday. Golden State took the first two stops on its four-game road trip as Stephen Curry cut down his turnovers and served as distributor for Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson.
San Antonio is coming off back-to-back wins over Denver and Phoenix but needed Tony Parker to score 15 of its final 16 points as fatigue set in against the Suns. “We were struggling to score,” Manu Ginobili said. “We looked a little slow and tired and he must have made every shot.” Parker could get a break on the defensive end on Friday against Curry, who left Wednesday’s game with a bruised left ankle.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), KENS (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (4-1): Curry totaled 60 points but also had 18 turnovers in games against Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers last week, but is turning things around on the road trip with a total of three turnovers on the first two stops. Golden State also picked things up defensively during its three-game winning streak, holding opponents to an average of 90 points. “It was a combination of teams missing shots but mostly our defense,” coach Mark Jackson said. “We are making good teams work. It’s been a great spot for us.” Iguodala has been a help on that end and is the big upgrade from the team that met San Antonio last spring.
ABOUT THE SPURS (4-1): Parker got some help on Wednesday from Danny Green, who scored a season-high 19 points in 36 minutes. The sharpshooter had seen his minutes decline in the first four games in favor of Marco Belinelli and totaled 14 points on 6-of-23 shooting in the first four contests. Green, Parker and Tim Duncan combined to shoot 63.2 percent from the field against Phoenix to help cover for Ginobili, who struggled to 4-of-11 and is 5-of-20 in the last two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors F Harrison Barnes (foot) made his season debut on Wednesday and scored 14 points in as many minutes off the bench.
2. Green averaged 12 points against Golden State in the playoffs last spring.
3. Curry is listed as day-to-day but told reporters that he expected to play on Friday.