In a 125-120 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the spark that fired the Spurs all season felt lost. Despite being the second-best defense in the NBA by net rating, the Spurs let Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors shoot all over them. The Spurs allowed an absolute avalanche of three-pointers that ultimately led to their demise.
Even with a pair of triple-doubles from Area 51, the Spurs didn’t have enough to take down Curry, who dropped a season-high 44 points. Losing to the Warriors on their second night of a back-to-back in the fashion that they did is unacceptable. Disappointment was written all over the Spurs’ 16-point blown lead.
The Spurs need to readjust their defense
For a team that has stifled opposing offenses all year long, this was an embarrassing effort. Yes, Steph Curry and his wizardry is almost impossible for anyone to stop, but the Spurs need to a better job on defense.
The Spurs’ defense was no match for the Warriors’ off-ball movement, allowing them to get shots from all over the court. Whether it was Curry running around every Spurs man or Gary Payton II leaking out on a slip-screen, the Spurs must be more vigilant.
All night long, the Warriors found themselves in advantageous positions and were allowed to shoot whatever shots they wanted. This was evident in their 57 three-point attempts and 21 makes. The Warriors didn’t always earn these looks; the Spurs gave them to them.
The Silver and Black stars made way too many mistakes
Perhaps even more concerning, the Warriors absolutely dominated the Spurs in the free-throw battle. Everybody on the Spurs was getting too handsy and creating fouls at silly times. All of these mistakes gave the Warriors even more unearned opportunities to score, making winning a whole lot easier.
With a theme of mistakes, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox were a prime example. The prior gave away a whopping eight balls while the latter threw away six. These mistakes were both costly and mindless, and should not have happened if the Spurs want to win games.
Props to the Warriors for creating havoc, but many of these turnovers were due to the Spurs’ man. Going forward, the Spurs will need to make adjustments. They have put a massive priority on stopping the paint instead of guarding the three-point line.
When you play a team like the Warriors and a player like Steph Curry, you have to be attentive to space beyond the arc. If they continue to play their defense like they did tonight, having Victor Wembanyama on their team won’t even matter.
Luckily, the Spurs will get a chance at redemption on Friday night when they clash with the Warriors once again in San Antonio. I have complete trust in the squad and Mitch Johnson to make the proper improvements to take down this Warriors squad.
