Warriors at Spurs
The Golden State Warriors rallied late Saturday to give themselves an opportunity at history and set up a monumental matchup at the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The Warriors finished on an 8-2 run to steal a 100-99 win at Memphis, improving to 71-9 and keeping alive their chance to record an NBA-record 73 victories with two games to play.
To get one win closer, they would have to be the first team all season to win in San Antonio, where the Spurs are closing in on the first perfect home record in league history. Golden State knows all about it, as the franchise has dropped an alarming 33 straight games at San Antonio. The two Western Conference powers are meeting for the second time in four days, with the Warriors holding serve at home in a 112-101 triumph on Thursday. San Antonio followed that loss up with another at Denver the following night, but coach Gregg Popovich chose to rest nearly all of his regulars in that one as his team suffered its first set of consecutive losses.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (71-9): The win in Memphis allowed Golden State to match the NBA record for road victories (33), held by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the same team the Warriors are hoping to catch at 72. They were able to survive an off night for leader Stephen Curry, who was 3-of-14 from 3-point range while finishing with fewer than 20 points for the first time since March 21. Curry was just 4-of-18 from the floor and 1-of-12 from beyond the arc in the previous visit to San Antonio on March 19, when the Spurs recorded an 87-79 win.
ABOUT THE SPURS (65-14): Popovich has said he will not rest anyone for this one, even though he called the pursuit of a perfect home record "meaningless," but he will be without reserve forward Boris Diaw (thigh) for the fourth straight game. Diaw had 14 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 35 minutes against Golden State earlier this season. Popovich will have a close eye on LaMarcus Aldridge, who briefly left the loss to the Warriors on Thursday with a finger injury before resting against the Nuggets.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Golden State's last victory in San Antonio was on Feb. 14, 1997.
2. Spurs F David West had a season-high seven assists against Golden State on Thursday and a season-high five blocks in the loss at Denver.
3. San Antonio C Tim Duncan enters tied with current Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd for seventh on the NBA's all-time list for games played with 1,391.