The Spurs bid hello to an old friend Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Stephen Curry reminded them why they’ve always hated playing against him so much.
Facing the Spurs for the first time since March 19, 2019, the Golden State maestro guard was in old-school form in the Warriors’ resounding 121-99 victory at the Chase Center.
Curry had 20 of his 26 points in the first half, finished with 11 rebounds and added seven assists as the Spurs fell to their most lopsided defeat of the season.
It game two nights after the Spurs recorded their most lopsided victory of the season, a 125-120 decision in Portland.
“It’s great to see Steph back doing great things,” Spurs forward Rudy Gay said before the game.
It wasn’t so great for the Spurs to see him do those things against them.
Injury limited Curry to only five games last season. He is back with a vengeance this season.
Wednesday’s performance actually brought down his season scoring average of 28.2 points coming in.
The Spurs were never really in the game.
Four of Golden State’s five starters were in double figures, including rookie center James Wiseman who had 20.
By halftime, with the Warriors already already led by 19, the Spurs’ largest deficit since a 130-109 loss to Utah on Jan. 3.
“We came out in the first half and got punched in the face,” guard Dejounte Murray said. “And didn’t know how to get back up.”
Curry went into the intermission locker room already ensured his fourth straight game with at least 20 points, had made 7 of 9 shots and hit 4 of his 5 3-point attempts.
One came late in the first quarter, when Curry completely dazzled Patty Mills, burying the Spurs guard behind a screen, before dribbling into an easy-does-it wing 3-pointer.
The Spurs got junky with their defense of Curry in the third quarter. Unveiling a box-in-one scheme that slowed down the Warriors for a time.
It’s a boutique defense the Spurs practiced “not a lot” before Wednesday, coach Gregg Popovich said.
“In preseason, which was pretty quick, we did it a little bit,” Popovich said. “We reminded them a couple times at shootaround. I thought they did a good job.”
With or without fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson, Wednesday produced a vintage Curry performance.
At least the Spurs held him to less than half of the career-best 62 he poured on Portland on Jan. 3.
The Spurs will be glad not to have to see Curry again until next month, when the Warriors visit the AT&T Center for a back-to-back pair of games.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s lopsided loss:
DeMar DeRozan uncharacteristically couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Foul trouble plagued DeRozan at the start.
At the 5:51 mark of the first quarter, the Spurs’ leading scorer would pick up his third foul. Unlike the two previous, this one was dubious - a half-hearted swipe at a driving Andrew Wiggins that appeared to hit nothing but Chase Center air.
The call sent DeRozan to the bench for a prolonged period, and earned him a technical on the way there.
He would remain sidelined until the 6-minute mark of the second quarter, by which point the Spurs were already fighting uphill.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” DeRozan said. “I want to be out there with my teammates and do whatever I can. Just not being out there on the floor definitely sucks.”
DeRozan ended with 15 points, going 3 of 8 from the field in 25 minutes. His night was salvaged somewhat by an 8-of-8 showing from the foul line.
DeRozan’s foul-a-thon was par for the course for the Spurs in the first quarter. They sent the Warriors to the free throw line 12 times in the opening frame, part of the reason Golden State was able to build a lead that got as high as 17 points.
The Spurs never seemed to fully recover from their ramshackle, foul-filled start.
Another 3-point power outage
Earlier this month, the Spurs were lucky to split four games when they shot worse than 30 percent from the 3-point stripe.
They seemed to bounce back from their 3-point woes Monday in Portland, draining 15 of 33 from distance.
The hot shooting did not follow the Spurs south to San Francisco.
The Spurs made a season-low four 3-pointers Wednesday on 33 attempts, their 12.3-percent also the worst of the season.
“If you shoot 4 of 33 from 3, your defense better be pretty perfect,” Popovich said. “It wasn’t.”
Indeed, the Curry-led Warriors made 15 3-pointers, blowing the Spurs out of the Chase Center in that regard.
Patty Mills, the Spurs’ top-shooting marksman coming into the game at 45.7 percent, was 0 of 7. Dejounte Murray, who otherwise played well en route to 22 points, was 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.
The Spurs shot 100 percent from 3-point range in the final five seconds, with rookie guard Tre Jones throwing one in just before the final buzzer to carve the final margin of defeat to 22 points.
The incredible shrinking L.A.
LaMarcus Aldridge returned to Strugglesville on Wednesday, finishing with his second four-point game in the past three outings.
He was 2 of 8 from the field with three rebounds in 23 minutes, and thoroughly outplayed by Wiseman, the ballyhooed No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Aldridge was part of a Spurs’ starting unit that was outscored 89-50 and made only 20 of 50 field-goal attempts.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that Aldridge recovered from his previous season low against Houston to post a 22-point outing against the Trail Blazers.
He will look to rebound in more ways than one Friday against Dallas, a team he has traditionally fared well against.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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