Warriors absorb lopsided loss to Spurs, cast early eye toward play-in game

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The Spurs' Victor Wembanyama shoots over the Warriors' Draymond Green (23) and Nate Williams during the first half of Wednesday's game at Chase Center. (Tony Avelar/Associated Press)


Six games and 11 days remain in the regular season for the Golden State Warriors. But in many ways the Warriors already are peering toward their play-in opener April 14 or 15.

That's why Stephen Curry is pining to return to action after more than two months as a spectator. That's why the Warriors sat several banged-up players Wednesday night, practically assuring a 127-113 loss to Victor Wembanyama and the rampaging San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center.

The Warriors (36-40) almost certainly will end up as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference. They trail No. 9 Portland (39-38) by 2½ games and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers (39-37) by three.

Barring a dramatic turn of events, Golden State will open the play-in tournament on the road against the Trail Blazers or Clippers. If the Warriors win, they would face the loser of the 7-8 game between (most likely) Phoenix and the Trail Blazers or Clippers (whichever team earns the No. 8 seed).

The winner of that game lands a playoff berth, and presumably a daunting first-round matchup against reigning champion Oklahoma City (or red-hot San Antonio).

Even if the Warriors were extraordinarily overmatched against the Spurs, they find hope in Curry's potential return. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Gui Santos and De'Anthony Melton also missed Wednesday night's game, but they all could be at full strength, theoretically, for the play-in opener.

"That's the goal, the whole point of trying to get everybody healthy," head coach Steve Kerr said. "Just give yourself a chance. The play-in is literally one game. Try to win one game, and if you're 9 or 10 try to win one more.

"If we have Steph healthy - and Al, Draymond, Kristaps - then I know we can do it."

The Warriors lost three of their four games this season against Portland, giving the Trail Blazers the tiebreaker advantage - another reason Golden State has little hope of rising to No. 9. The Warriors have lost two of three against the Clippers, with one matchup remaining April 12.

Also notable: The Blazers secured a 114-104 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Kerr watched closely on television, figuring it's not too early to start scouting.

"That's why I watched the game, to just keep my eye on both teams," he said. "The Clippers are obviously different now with (Darius) Garland instead of (James) Harden, and a couple of other changes.

"And Portland looked great, healthy and playing at a high level. Both teams look really good. We're looking at both of them - no doubt we're going to play one of the two. That's our biggest concern right now."

Spurs 127, Warriors 113

FG	FT	Reb
SAN ANTONIO	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Champagnie	25:37	5-15	1-1	0-3	2	3	15
Vassell	27:49	2-8	3-4	0-2	4	2	8
Wembanyama	28:56	16-22	7-8	0-18	3	0	41
Castle	32:40	4-9	5-7	4-7	11	2	15
Fox	24:43	4-7	2-2	2-4	4	2	11
Barnes	27:11	4-7	2-3	2-6	3	1	13
Johnson	25:42	3-11	3-4	2-3	1	2	11
Harper	23:35	6-11	1-1	1-2	5	4	13
Bryant	17:08	0-3	0-0	2-3	1	4	0
Plumlee	6:39	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	240:00	44-93	24-30	13-48	34	20	127

Percentages: FG .473, FT .800.

3-Point Goals: 15-47, .319 (Champagnie 4-13, Barnes 3-6, Castle 2-4, Johnson 2-6, Wembanyama 2-6, Fox 1-2, Vassell 1-5, Harper 0-2, Bryant 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 1.

Blocked Shots: 6 (Wembanyama 3, Bryant 2, Vassell).

Turnovers: 14 (Castle 4, Harper 3, Vassell 2, Bryant, Champagnie, Fox, Johnson, Plumlee).

Steals: 8 (Fox 2, Harper 2, Barnes, Bryant, Castle, Plumlee).

Technical Fouls: None.

FG	FT	Reb
GOLDEN STATE	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Richard	25:33	1-3	0-0	1-4	3	2	2
Williams	46:35	8-18	0-0	2-4	1	5	18
Green	20:41	4-7	2-2	0-2	1	5	14
Cryer	23:29	6-12	3-3	0-1	3	2	17
Podziemski	17:14	4-8	4-4	0-6	5	1	14
Spencer	38:00	6-15	0-0	1-8	7	1	14
Leons	29:25	2-6	1-3	2-4	5	5	5
Yurtseven	29:00	6-9	5-6	1-8	4	5	17
Se.Curry	10:03	5-8	0-0	0-2	0	0	12
Totals	240:00	42-86	15-18	7-39	29	26	113

Percentages: FG .488, FT .833.

3-Point Goals: 14-35, .400 (Green 4-6, Se.Curry 2-4, Williams 2-4, Podziemski 2-5, Spencer 2-6, Cryer 2-7, Yurtseven 0-1, Richard 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 2.

Blocked Shots: 3 (Green, Spencer, Yurtseven).

Turnovers: 13 (Spencer 5, Cryer 2, Leons 2, Williams 2, Podziemski, Yurtseven).

Steals: 6 (Leons 2, Williams 2, Green, Spencer).

Technical Fouls: None.

San Antonio	35	35	26	31	-	127
Golden State	26	23	34	30	-	113

A: 18,064 (18,064).

Unless the Warriors win at least five of their final six games, they will finish the regular season with a losing record for only the second time in Kerr's 12 seasons as head coach. They were a league-worst 15-50 in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, when Klay Thompson (torn ACL) missed the entire season and Curry (broken hand) played in only five games.

This season's troubles also trace to serious injuries, of course - Jimmy Butler's torn ACL on Jan. 19 and Curry missing the past 26 games with his own knee injury. Kerr used his 39th different starting lineup Wednesday, more than he has in any other season and one more than last season's total of 38.
Quick context: Kerr used eight different lineups in 2014-15, the first Curry-era championship.

The lack of lineup stability helps explain why the Warriors are wobbling toward their third consecutive play-in appearance.

"We're just trying to win every game," Kerr said of the season's home stretch. "But short-handed playing against some great teams, it's not an easy task. … Being healthy (for the play-in) is the No. 1 priority."

This showed Wednesday, on the front end of a back-to-back set, as the Warriors opted for caution with players nursing injuries. Golden State started rookie Will Richard and two-way players LJ Cryer and Nate Williams alongside Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski.

Put another way: There was a wide talent disparity against the Spurs, who won their 10th consecutive game (and 26th in their past 28).

Wembanyama, forcing his way deeper into the Most Valuable Player conversation, collected 27 points and 13 rebounds in the first half. He finished with 41 and 18. Nate Williams scored 18 for the Warriors.

This article originally published at Warriors absorb lopsided loss to Spurs, cast early eye toward play-in game.

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