One team standing in the way of Golden State setting an NBA record for wins in a season is San Antonio. One team standing in the way of San Antonio going undefeated at home is Golden State. We’ll find out what gives on Sunday.
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LOOK AHEAD
The Warriors are so close to becoming the best team ever in the NBA. They became the second to reach 70 wins with Thursday’s verdict over the Spurs and need to win their remaining three games to break the league record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. They have Memphis twice with another date with the Spurs in between. Golden State will play in Memphis the night before visiting San Antonio, a city where they haven’t won a regular season game in 33 tries.
This looks like a tough weekend for the Warriors in pursuit of the record. Saturday’s game at Memphis should be quite winnable considering the Grizzlies have so few healthy rotation players and play Friday at Dallas in a matchup that has much greater implications for their playoff seeding. Yet Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has pledged to rest his players Friday in Denver and play his full rotation for Sunday’s rematch in San Antonio, when the Spurs will have several days of rest and be looking to keep their undefeated home record alive.
INJURIES
The Warriors will pursue the wins record with a healthy lineup and coach Steve Kerr is deferring to his team as to whether they need rest. It’s unlikely with the record so tantalizingly close.
The Spurs are hopeful to have Boris Diaw back in the lineup by Sunday. The reserve forward didn’t travel with the team on its three-game road trip, staying home to rest and rehab his sore groin. LaMarcus Aldridge left Thursday’s game late in the first quarter with a dislocated right pinky finger. He did return after getting the finger taped, but said he “didn’t feel right the whole night.”
KEY MATCHUP
It’s hard to keep a superstar down, and the Spurs couldn’t do it to Stephen Curry again. Curry and the Warriors made their adjustments to San Antonio’s efforts to stop him on the perimeter and pulled out a 112-101 win Thursday night. The Spurs switched and trapped Curry at every opportunity in their March win, but the MVP made it a point to drive to the hoop instead of attempting pressured threes. The resulting stats were very unlike what we usually see from Curry – he shot seven threes but went 11 of 19 from the field anyway for a game-high 27 points and nine assists. He was the best player on the floor even if he didn’t thrive in his usual way. Now it’s time for the Spurs to make adjustments defensively, but Curry just proved he can beat you in a number of ways.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
In order for the Warriors to set the NBA record for wins, they must get a victory in San Antonio. And that’s not an easy thing to do. In fact, no team has done it this year and it’s been 48 games since a visitor won a game at the ATT Center. Pop said he will rest his regulars Friday and play his rotation when Golden State invades on Sunday. We saw what happened on Mar. 19 when the Spurs’ regulars dominated, holding the Dubs to a season-low point total in an 87-79 win. Aldridge’s pinky problem and the absence of Diaw were factors when San Antonio lost in Oracle on Thursday, but if those guys are back, the Spurs will have similar results.
NBA Odds: San Antonio 103, Golden State 96
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