Struggling Spurs stun Golden State Warriors
KELDON JOHNSON scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jeremy Sochan and Malaki Branham added 20 points each as the visiting San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 126-113 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday in San Francisco.
The game was the first of a pair of home-and-home clashes between the teams over a three-day period, with the second contest on Monday in San Antonio.
The Spurs took charge midway through the first quarter and steadily pulled away, leading by 19 points at halftime and by 17 after three quarters as they weathered an early second-half run by Golden State.
San Antonio snapped a two-game losing streak but, at 14-50, are still at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. The teams were without their star players, as both the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama missed the game with respective ankle injuries.
San Antonio’s Devin Vassell (left hip contusion) also sat out.
Dominick Barlow scored 19 points and Julian Champagnie had 17 — both season-highs — for San Antonio. Tre Jones finished with 11 assists.
Klay Thompson had 27 points for Golden State while Jonathan Kuminga scored 26, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Andrew Wiggins scored 11 apiece and Chris Paul added 10 points.
The Warriors dropped their second straight and third of their past four games. The first quarter went back and forth and featured nine lead changes, with the Warriors going up by as many as two points before San Antonio leapfrogged to the front.
Mr. Sochan had 10 points in the period and Mr. Johnson scored seven as the Spurs carried a 32-27 advantage after the opening 12 minutes of play. The Spurs expanded their lead to 56-38 on a layup by Zach Collins with four minutes to play the second quarter.
Mr. Thompson responded with a jumper and then a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13, but San Antonio quickly answered. Mr. Champagnie hit a three-pointer and Mr. Collins added another with 45.3 seconds left to give the Spurs a 62-43 lead at the break.
Mr. Sochan led all scorers with 16 points before halftime while Johnson chipped in 10 for San Antonio. Mr. Thompson’s 13 points off the bench paced the Warriors. — Reuters