Spurs’ Gregg Popovich Takes Jab At Cavaliers

The essence of the Golden State franchise is modeled after San Antonio’s, which emphasizes team basketball, execution and chemistry.

With the season now past the midway point the Warriors are chasing a repeat title, the Spurs are chasing the Warriors, and they’re both chasing history. “We feel different going against a team that’s the best team in the league”. Confidence level, this team believes it’s going to win every night just like that team did.

The Spurs started their 13-game winning streak after an 88-84 loss to the Rockets on Christmas in Houston.

Popovich understood the hype for one of the most anticipated regular-season matchups in recent memory.

Hawks-Nuggets: Atlanta didn’t have a whole lot of trouble with Denver last night; they cruised to a 119-105 victory on the road. But if the Warriors get the tempo they want, the men in the Spurs’ big lineup end up looking like they are wearing actual Spurs on their Nikes. Curry had five steals against the Spurs, who had a season-high 25 turnovers. “He worked out (Monday) and we’ll see how he responds”.

Curry set the tone early with a 15-point first period during which the Spurs played their most competitive passage of the night.

The Warriors also got a typically solid all-around game from power forward Draymond Green, who finished with a game-high six assists and nine rebounds.

The Warriors had 21 assists on 24 baskets in the first half, 31 on 44 in all. I thought that loss was kind of what we needed to wake us up because we really hadn’t played that well over the previous few weeks. “They might play psychological games”.

Stephen Curry had 37 points in 28 minutes.

Curry added 18 points to his total in the third while almost outscoring San Antonio (19) singlehandedly.

James Harden was the Rockets top scorer with 35 points, who were without Dwight Howard for a third-straight game.

And, most certain, Curry is not the same player they once could bottle up and frustrate and induce into poor shooting nights.

Curry, who was serenaded by the home crowd at Oracle Arena with chants of “MVP, MVP”, reached two milestones during the game, making his 1,400th 3-point shot and also eclipsing the 10,000-point mark. Despite facing the strongest defense in the Eastern Conference, the Warriors were 51.8% for field goals and 42.3% at the line.

“At this point, they are better than us”, Spurs veteran guard Manu Ginobili said. “But I enjoy it. I’ll continue to enjoy it. And I’ll continue to do what I do”. In fact, San Antonio is 38-23-2 against the number over the last three seasons when coming off a loss, covering at a 62.3% clip in that situation.

The Golden State Warriors hammered the San Antonio Spurs with such force that Stephen Curry didn’t even set foot on the court in the fourth quarter. Asked to describe his anxiety level before the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted, “I’ve got butterflies in my gut”.