Steve Kerr approached Gregg Popovich on the court, smiled and shared a laugh with one of his mentors following his first home loss as coach of the Golden State Warriors.
“I just told him, ‘Thanks a lot for picking tonight to play your best game of the year’,” said Kerr, who also was hoping Popovich would rest his regulars.
Instead, Popovich played his veterans on consecutive nights – and they delivered.
Tony Parker had 28 points and seven assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 19 and the restless San Antonio Spurs (4-3) beat the Warriors (5-2) 113-100 on Tuesday night.
“I’m really proud of them. Back-to-backs are difficult for an older team, but I thought they really showed a lot of focus and played with a purpose,” Popovich said.
The defending NBA champions leaned on their aging Big Three – Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan – to pull off California’s most difficult double. The Spurs rallied past the Clippers 89-85 on Monday in Los Angeles before cooling off one of the league’s hottest teams in Oakland.
Popovich said he went with his regulars because it’s early in the season, the Spurs have the next two days off and his veterans wanted to play.
“We know in the West, it’s a beast, and you don’t want to take too many games off because it’s tough to catch up,” Parker said.
Klay Thompson scored 29 points after missing the previous game with a sprained right hand, and Harrison Barnes had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors, who have lost two straight after a 5-0 start under Kerr.
The first-year coach seemed more at peace with the loss than he has after some wins this season. Kerr credited the Spurs for playing a near mistake-free game and said there wasn’t much his team – or any team – could do when the Spurs are at their best.
“Look, I retired 12 years ago, and the same three top players and the same coach are still over there. It’s insane,” said Kerr, who won two of his five NBA titles as a player under Popovich.
San Antonio played the kind of all-around game that has defined the franchise for more than a decade. The formula worked perfectly against Golden State, who entered the night leading the league in field-goal percentage (49 per cent) and turnovers (22.3) per game.
The Spurs’ reserves outscored the Warriors’ bench 40-20. San Antonio also forced 20 turnovers and committed only eight, and the Spurs had eight offensive rebounds.
That helped the Spurs take 23 more shots than Golden State and offset a night when the Warriors outshot them 54.3 per cent to 49.5 per cent.
“They’re the champs for a reason,” Thompson said.
Duncan had 12 points and 13 rebounds in 36 minutes. Ginobili scored 17 points in 26 minutes, and Parker shot 11-of-17 from the floor in 30 minutes as San Antonio grinded out another win.
The Spurs controlled the game most of the way until a brief run by the Warriors sliced San Antonio’s lead to six in the fourth quarter. Parker answered by converting a three-point play over Stephen Curry and followed with a three-pointer to stretch San Antonio’s lead to 108-96 with 1:52 to play.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Raptors 104 (7-1), Magic 100 (2-6)
Kyle Lowry scored 19 points, Terrence Ross had 17 and the Toronto Raptors erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Orlando 104-100 on Tuesday night, their ninth consecutive victory over the Magic.
DeMar DeRozan had 16 points and Lou Williams scored eight of his 14 in the fourth as the Eastern Conference leaders won their fifth straight game overall and improved to 7-1.
Ross grabbed the rebound on a potential tying jump shot by Tobias Harris with 2 seconds left. Toronto have won their first five home games for the first time since 2003/04.
Evan Fournier scored 24 and Harris had 23 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, who lost their second straight.
Mavericks 106 (5-3), Kings 98 (5-3)
Dirk Nowitzki became the highest-scoring NBA player born outside of the United States, helping the Mavericks rally from 24 points down to beat the Kings.
Monta Ellis scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter, including a fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer after the Mavericks had taken their first lead in their 21st straight regular-season win at home against Sacramento.
Nowitzki passed Hakeem Olajuwon for ninth place on the all-time scoring list. The 7-foot German finished with 23 for 26,953 career points, seven more than the Nigerian-born former star of the Houston Rockets.
Rudy Gay scored 26 to lead the Kings.
Grizzlies 107 (7-1), Lakers 102 (1-6)
Mike Conley scored 23 points and the Grizzlies finally got a strong effort from their struggling bench to beat the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (with 28 points, but shot 10-of-26 from the field and surpassed Boston Celtics great John Havlicek for the most missed field goals in an NBA career.
Reserve guard Wayne Ellington was not with the Lakers after his father was killed in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
Backup guard Beno Udrih had 16 points for Memphis. Courtney Lee scored 15 as six Grizzlies finished in double figures, including Zach Randolph with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Memphis have won 17 straight regular-season home games since a February loss to Dallas.
Bucks 85 (4-4), Thunder 78 (2-6)
OJ Mayo scored 19 points and Brandon Knight added 16 as the Bucks held off a late Oklahoma City rally to beat the Thunder.
Reggie Jackson had 29 points, nine above his season average, for Oklahoma City. Serge Ibaka added 14 as the Thunder fell to 0-5 on the road.
The Bucks led by five after three quarters and extended their lead to as much as 11 in the fourth. Oklahoma City cut the lead to four on two free throws by Ibaka with 31 seconds left but got no closer.
Trail Blazers 102 (5-3), Hornets 100 (3-5)
Damian Lillard had 29 points and the Trail Blazers trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half before rallying in the fourth quarter to beat the Hornets.
Charlotte’s Gary Neal made a layup at the final buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, but the refs reversed the call after a review.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers, who have won four of their last five games and improved to 5-1 at the Moda Center.
Al Jefferson scored 22 points, while Lance Stephenson had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets.
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