Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors
Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
The end of the season continues to be brutal for the San Antonio Spurs. After playing a late game on the West Coast against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Spurs must travel to take on the surging Golden State Warriors on the second game of a back-to-back. Luckily, they'll be on an even playing field with the Warriors, who blew out the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
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Things weren't pretty for the Spurs in their last contest with the Warriors. Just over a week ago, San Antonio lost in blowout fashion to Golden State 148-106. Don't expect the Warriors to rest up too much against the Spurs. They are in a competitive battle in the Western Conference for playoff seeding. A win for the Warriors could help them get home-court advantage in the first round.
The Spurs will look to build off a solid performance against the Clippers on Tuesday and make up for their last game against the Warriors.
San Antonio Spurs (32-47) vs. Golden State Warriors (47-32)
April 9th, 2025 | 9 PM CT
Watch: KENS5 | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Injury report released at 1 pm CT
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Warriors Injuries: Injury report released at 1 pm CT
What to watch for:
Bench play
One of the few positive takeaways from the Spurs' last game against the Warriors was their bench scoring. Keldon Johnson chipped in 19 points in 21 minutes. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Malaki Branham had nice games as well. It'll take all hands on deck to compete with the Warriors. It'll be tough to outplay Golden State's rock-solid starting five, but gaining ground during the bench minutes could help the Spurs stay in the game.
Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul's consistency
Not to jinx anything, but Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul are on track to play all 82 games this season. That is not a sentence I expected to write before the season started. Both players deserve a lot of credit for being available and providing consistent value to the team. Barnes in particular has been huge for the Spurs with his shooting and plug-and-play versatility on offense. Both players have a history with the Warriors and should have a little extra juice, even on the tail end of the back-to-back.
Defending the arc
Golden State has been shooting teams out of the gym for the better part of a decade. San Antonio can't get into a shooting contest with the Warriors if they want to compete. They let Golden State knock down 21 threes against them in their last contest, including 7 from Brandin Podziemski. Getting good contests and running shooters off the line will help the Spurs gain an edge on Wednesday night.
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