|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:30 PM PT5:30 PM MT6:30 PM CT7:30 PM ET0:30 GMT8:30 5:30 PM MST7:30 PM EST4:30 UAE (+1)01:3019:30 ET6:30 PM CTNaN:� , January 13, 2023 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 68,323 |
Spurs, Warriors hunt for a win before record crowd at Alamodome
Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs
- The Warriors' 132-95 win over the Spurs in November marks their largest margin of victory and fewest points allowed in any game this season. Golden State has won three straight in San Antonio, matching its longest ever win streak there set twice before (1977-78, 1988-89).
- Golden State lost its third straight game after a 125-113 defeat to Phoenix, falling under .500 at the halfway point of its season for the second time in nine tries under Steve Kerr (9-32 in 2019-20). The Warriors have been outscored 152-112 in the paint during their losing streak.
- Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 29 points, giving him 173 over his last five games, his most in any five-game span in his career. His 34.6 points per game in that span is nearly double his average of 18.3 that he posted through his first 22 games this season.
- The Spurs lost their third game in a row with a 135-129 defeat in Memphis on Wednesday. San Antonio allowed the Grizzlies to shoot 63.6 percent (14/22) from three, tied for its highest percentage yielded in any game in franchise history (min. 20 3PA, 1/11/09 vs ORL).
- Tre Jones is averaging 20.8 points over his last four games, raising his season-long average to 13.5 points per game after scoring 6.0 last season. His increase of 7.5 is the second largest in the NBA (minimum 70 percent of team games played both seasons; Lauri Markkanen -- 9.7).
- Stephen Curry had 24 points and five threes in his return from an 11-game absence while Klay Thompson made six threes. It marked their 41st game making 5+ threes each, more than double the next-closest duo in league history (Eric Gordon and James Harden -- 20).
The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors will participate in a history-making game on Friday in the Alamo City.
The game will be played in the Alamodome in a game expected to break the NBA regular-season attendance record. As of Wednesday, the Spurs had sold more than 63,000 tickets, which eclipses the standing record of 62,046 that watched the Bulls and Hawks play in 1998 in the Georgia Dome.
The stated capacity for the Alamodome for Friday's game is 68,000, which would include standing room tickets. The previous record for an NBA game at the stadium, which was the home of the Spurs from 1993-2002, is 39,554 for San Antonio's Game 2 win against the Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals.
The largest crowd in NBA history was established in 2010 when 108,713 fans saw the All-Star Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
"It will be a fun evening," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "To have that many people in there, it's crazy."
While the excitement of playing in front of such a large crowd is palpable, winning the contest would be even sweeter, especially for the Spurs. The team is celebrating its 50th anniversary in the 2022-23 season, the first half of which has been, at best, a struggle.
The Spurs have dropped three straight games and six of their last seven, while short-handed Golden State has also lost three consecutive games, all at home.
San Antonio heads home after a 135-129 defeat in Memphis on Wednesday that followed a 121-113 loss to the Grizzlies on Monday. Keldon Johnson returned after missing three games with a hamstring injury and led the Spurs with 24 points in Wednesday's loss.
Tre Jones added 22 points, Jakob Poeltl racked up 17 points and 12 rebounds, Doug McDermott scored 15 points, Zach Collins amassed 14 points and 12 rebounds, Josh Richardson scored 12 and Jeremy Sochan hit for 11 for San Antonio.
The Spurs trailed for the majority of the game but cut Memphis's lead to three points on Richardson's jumper with 2:41 to play. But San Antonio could not get over the hump.
"They never quit," Popovich said of his team. "That's a tribute to their character. You can't coach that. I was really proud of them."
The Warriors travel to San Antonio after a 125-113 loss to Phoenix on Tuesday that spoiled the return of Stephen Curry to the Golden State lineup. Curry missed the previous 11 games with a separated shoulder and hit for 24 points to augment the game-high 29 by Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole's 27 points off the bench.
The Warriors couldn't beat a Phoenix team that was without six of its regular rotation players, epitomizing Golden State's ragged performance over the season's first 41 games in defense of its title.
"I think (losing this game) could be a good thing for us, honestly," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "You need to get a wake-up call -- you need to be reminded how hard it is to win, and you need to understand the level of commitment to each other and the game that it takes to win a title.
"Hopefully this is the jolt we need because this first half of the season has been full of stops and starts."
--Field Level Media
Updated January 12, 2023
© 2023 by STATS PERFORM.Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS PERFORM is strictly prohibited.