D’Angelo Russell drops 30 and Jordan Poole adds a career-high 20 in loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
D’Angelo Russell had 30 points and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Spurs from pulling away in the second half to hand the Dubs a 127-110 defeat on Friday night at Chase Center.
The game marked the Dubs’ first game without All-Star guard Stephen Curry, who underwent successful surgery to repair the broken second metacarpal in his left hand earlier in the day. Though his absence was felt, the Dubs came out of the gate with a strong showing against the visiting San Antonio Spurs: through the first half, the two teams had seven lead changes with the Dubs leading by as much as six, and the Spurs by as much as seven.
However, San Antonio came out of the half to post 40 points in the third quarter, giving the them a 97-86 lead by then end of the frame, and the Warriors didn’t have enough to mount a comeback.
TEAM LEADERS
| GSW
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Russell – 30 | Chriss – 9 | Russell – 8 |
| Poole – 20 | Green – 8 | Green – 7 |
| Lee – 16 | Cauley-Stein – 5 | 3 Tied – 2 |
| SAS
|
||
| Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Mills – 31 | Lyles – 14 | DeRozan – 11 |
| Aldridge – 22 | Poeltl – 10 | Lyles – 3 |
| Gay – 16 | Aldridge – 8 | Mills/Carroll – 2 |
Proving to be the biggest problem for the Warriors was Spurs guard Patty Mills: he finished the game with 31 points, his highest scoring game since February 8, 2014, with four made three-pointers on six attempts (67 percent).
The Dubs did show sparks of resiliency through the tough third quarter though. On back-to-back plays, the squad was able to convert on two lob plays. The first was a Draymond Green (six points, eight rebounds, seven assists) lob from the three-point line to Willie Cauley-Stein (six points, five rebounds), followed by a Russell lob over a double-team at the top of the paint to a waiting Marquese Chriss (four points, nine rebounds).
And then there was the hustle from Eric Paschall and Alec Burks. Paschall hit the deck to challenge DeMar DeRozan on a loose-ball, resulting in the two players going head-to-head for a jump ball on the Spurs’ side of the court. On the toss, Paschall swatted the ball down court to an awaiting Alex Burks who then ran the ball down the court for the dunk.
Though the Warriors took the loss, the Warriors came out scoring. D’Angelo Russell finished with 30 points, a new high with the Dubs, while rookie Jordan Poole added a career high 20 points. Burks and Damion Lee each went 2-of-2 from beyond the arc en route to 14- and 16-point nights.
The Dubs won’t have time to lament over the loss, as they come right back to Chase Center on Saturday to host the Charlotte Hornets (5:30 p.m.).
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