Spurs stop Curry, down Warriors in Texas

San Antonio closed down Steph Curry and closed the gap on the Golden State Warriors at the top of the NBA's Western Conference.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and the San Antonio defence held Golden State to a season-low offensive output as the Spurs made a statement with an 87-79 victory over the Warriors on Saturday to remain unbeaten at home.

San Antonio held Golden State scoreless over the final 2:33 while expanding a three-point lead to eight at the final horn. The Warriors missed their last seven shots.

The Spurs (59-10) have opened the season a perfect 35-0 at the AT&T Center and have also won a franchise-best 44 straight regular-season games at home since a loss to Cleveland in March of last season.

San Antonio's streak is tied for the second-longest in NBA history, tying Chicago's 44-game regular-season home run of 1995-96 and trailing only the continuing streak by Golden State (50 games).

Kawhi Leonard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs while Boris Diaw scored 14 points and Danny Green hit 10.

Golden State (62-7), which had its seven-game win streak snapped, was led by Klay Thompson's 15 points while Stephen Curry had 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting (1 of 12 on three-pointers). Draymond Green added 11 points for the Warriors and Brandon Rush had 10.

It was Golden State's 33rd consecutive regular-season loss in San Antonio, a skid that started on February 14, 1997 when Spurs' 39-year-old Tim Duncan was a rookie.

The Spurs started with a smaller than normal lineup, inserting Diaw in place of Tim Duncan at centre and the strategy worked against a Warriors side who were without the injured Andrew Bogut, Diaw scoring six of San Antonio's first eight points.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was into the game early on and was whistled for a technical foul in the first quarter for arguing when Golden State's Marresse Speights was called for an offensive foul. Kerr had to be physically restrained by his assistant coaches.

The second quarter belonged to the Spurs, who took the lead on a Patty Mills three-pointer two minutes into the period and expanded it to 10 points, at 38-28, on a breakaway dunk by Leonard at the 3:46 mark after a missed lay-up by Curry.

San Antonio led by as much as 11 points until the Warriors reeled off the final five points of the half - three of them on free throws by Curry - and cut the Spurs' advantage to 43-37 at halftime.

Leonard and Aldridge had 12 points each for the Spurs at the half, while Curry and Brandon Rush scored seven apiece to lead Golden State.

Curry hit his first three-pointer of the game on his eighth attempt with a 35-foot rainbow over Aldridge midway through the third quarter that brought the Warriors back to even at 55-55.

Curry's two free throws with 59.6 seconds left in the quarter tied the game again at 65, setting the table for a furious final period.

The Spurs grabbed their first lead of the fourth quarter on an Aldridge hook at the 6:25 mark and added to the advantage on their next possession via a putback by Diaw.

Green hit an off-balance three to move the score to 78-74 and, after Rush answered with a three of his own, went straight to the hole for a finger-roll layup to push the San Antonio lead back to four points.


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Source: AAP



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