Planes were grounded nationwide on Friday night and the San Antonio Spurs grounded the Golden State Warriors from the opening tip in their second NBA Cup game. Fueled by Stephon Castle, the Spurs took a 20-point first quarter lead and never looked back as they defeated the Warriors 123-85 at the Frost Bank Center.
The victory is the 11th straight for San Antonio, who also improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup play and control their own destiny to advance to the knockout stage of the competition. The Spurs would
need only one win in their next two Cup games to book a spot in the next round.
Nothing the Stephen Curry-less Warriors tried on Friday worked against the Spurs, who led by as many as 43 points in the game. Stephon Castle rebounded from a few poor outings in the last few games to score a season-high 32 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. Castle shot 12-of-18 from the field as he scored 13 of the Spurs’ first 26 points.
“He’s in the middle of everything,” Coach Johnson said of Castle. “He’s an unbelievable impact player. He’s never blinked at anything we’ve asked. He’s never shown any poor body language. He just attacks everything. And there are times in this league, that is ridiculously difficult.”
Early on, it was obvious what type of night this was going to be for the Spurs. San Antonio scored the first 18 points of the game and did not allow Golden State to score their first points until there was 5:54 left in the opening period. The Spurs’ defense was swarming all through the first quarter, getting hands into the passing lanes and by the time the buzzer sounded to end the period, the Warriors only had 14 points were shooting 21 percent.
“I think the defense probably ignites the offense more than vice versa,” Johnson said. “So I still lean into the defense. Thought we were pretty on point with some of our game plan execution stuff and attention to detail.”
Golden State’s standout rookie Yaxel Lendeborg struggled, shooting just 1-for-13 and ended with the game just three points. Credit to Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet, who both worked to make life difficult for the rookie.
“Nobody wanted to go into the paint,” Lendeborg said. “Nobody wanted to get their shot blocked by him. So we were all just doing some weak-ass floaters. I don’t know how many of us work on those.
San Antonio won all four quarters, but a 34-27 third quarter forced Coach Johnson to sit the starters and put his bench in with the Spurs comfortably ahead by 37 points. The majority of the fourth quarter saw Tarris Reed Jr., Carter Bryant, Jordan McLaughlin, and Keldon Johnson take the floor in mop up duty.
The win also saw the return of Devin Vassell, who missed the previous two games with adductor tightness. De’Aaron Fox was questionable with soreness, but he also took the floor in the win for the Spurs.
Game Notes
- Victor Wembanyama had a quiet 12 points and 12 rebounds, but he was also hit in the throat, poked in the eye, and thrown to the floor by Draymond Green. After the game, Wemby commented on this and said he was “not surprised” by Green’s flagrant foul.
- De’Aaron Fox did not have his shot on Friday, going just 1-of-7 from the floor. However, he made up for that by doing the little things. He had five rebounds, four assists to contribute in a different way.
- Keldon Johnson is starting to look like the man who won Sixth Man of the Year last season. He scored 18 points off the bench to go along with four rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. If he can do that consistently, it makes the Spurs even more dangerous than they already are.
Up next:
The Spurs (11-2) will now hit the road to face the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center for the final time this season on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. central time.
