Wednesday was not a fair fight. If you arrived at the Chase Center, or tuned into ESPN, anticipating a fair fight, you were quickly absolved of that delusion. The Golden State Warriors, a team destined for the back of the play-in tournament, showed up at the arena with their usual cast of countless injured bodies: Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler III, Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis, Moses Moody, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Quinten Post. The San Antonio Spurs, fighting for the top seed in the West,
arrived fully healthy.
Just to make an unfair fight even less fair, Gui Santos was scratched with an ailment right before tip off.
The Warriors were left with nine players: three two-way contracts, one player who began the year on a two-way contract, one player who began the year playing in Greece, one second-round rookie, and the veteran trio of Draymond Green, Seth Curry, and Brandin Podziemski.
It was a staggering juxtaposition, especially with MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama, in all his glory, standing on the other side. It was a 7’4 superstar against two unknowns in a trench coat, who still probably weren’t 7’4 combined.
And then the game started and, from the opening tip, it went exactly as you expected. Wembanyama had a bullying and-one just 18 seconds into the game. Before you found the right angle to sit on your couch, the Spurs had a 10-0 lead, which Podziemski mercifully ended with a triple. With Wembanyama and Stephon Castle playing with their food, the Spurs jumped out to a 17-3 lead with less than four minutes played, prompting a Steve Kerr timeout.
That was expected. What was less expected was that the Warriors would play the Spurs evenly from that point on, ultimately losing 127-113.
It started with a nice response out of the timeout, with Nate Williams — playing in just his 12th game of the year — really showing some impressive things. Wembanyama took his first rest at around the five-minute mark — he already had 14 points and six rebounds — and the Warriors took advantage, showing all sorts of life. They eventually pulled to within six points, before settling for a 35-26 deficit at the end of the first quarter. Despite getting thoroughly punched in the jaw to open the game, the Warriors were showing life.
That carried into the second quarter, where the Warriors had all sorts of energy, and were playing inspired basketball. They quickly pulled to within five points, aided by the Spurs’ inability to make a three, but insistence on trying anyway.
But the Warriors had caught lightning in a bottle, and the shots would soon dry up. They lost control, momentum, and hope late in the second quarter, and at halftime the San Antonio lead was a commanding 70-49.
If you want to know just how one-sided it was, consider this: at halftime, Wembanyama had 27 points and 13 rebounds. The amount of times a Warriors player has had 27 points and 13 rebounds in an entire game this year, let alone a half?
Zero.
Credit Green for fighting and making some defensive plays, but there was nothing fair about watching Wembanyama take on a team whose lone healthy center is on a 10-day contract.
Speaking of Green, he gave the fans one last thing to cheer about, when he came out in the third quarter and drained back-to-back three-pointers, with a steal sandwiched between them. It gave the Warriors some life, that they carried on for a while, before running out of steam again. But the youngsters — again led by Williams, who played all but 1:25 of the game — wouldn’t quit, and ended the third quarter with energy and life, pulling the Warriors to within 96-83.
Yet despite that, it never felt like the Warriors were in the game. San Antonio was in complete control, and it always felt like they could put their foot down and run away with it if they wanted to. Even though the Warriors “only” lost by 14 points, there was nothing even remotely competitive about the fourth quarter. And if you need further evidence of that, here it is: Wembanyama played less than 29 minutes in this game. The outcome was never in doubt.
Williams led the Warriors with 18 points, shooting 8-for-18 from the field and fearlessly attacking Wembanyama on multiple occasions (he also had four rebounds and two steals). LJ Cryer and Ömer Yurtseven each had 17, with Yurtseven contributing eight rebounds and four assists as well.
Pat Spencer and Podziemski each had very well-balanced games: Spencer was fairly inefficient, but had 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one block, while Podziemski was extremely efficient en route to 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Green and the younger Curry both had very efficient nights: 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting for Draymond, and 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting for Seth.
But it was nothing compared to the star attraction that Wemby provided. Despite his limited playing time, the must-watch superduperduperstar finished the game with 41 points on 16-for-22 shooting, with 18 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. It felt like he could get absolutely anything it wanted. Or to put it in more dramatic terms, it felt like if he were willing to do what Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker did, that he could have cruised to a 75-point night.
He’s good. The Spurs are good.
The Warriors? Not so much.
