LOS ANGELES: The San Antonio Spurs rolled to their season-best ninth straight win by toppling the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors with a 111-105 victory on Monday.
DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds as the NBA’s hottest team guaranteed themselves a league record 22nd straight winning season.
The Spurs won their 11th consecutive home game and improved to 42-29 on the season.
“We worked very hard. They are the defending NBA champs and they move and cut better than anybody in the world. The effort was there for 48 minutes and we learned a lot,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Rudy Gay added 17 points for the Spurs, while Derrick White
and Patty Mills hit for 12 and 10 points.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 25 points, and Kevin Durant returned from a two game injury absence to score 24 points for the Warriors.
“We had a couple of breakdowns at crunch time,” said Curry. “We fought hard and they just made shots down the stretch.”
Klay Thompson added 14 and Draymond Green racked up 10 points for Golden State, who dropped to 47-22 on the season and are now tied with Denver for top spot in the Western Conference standings.
The Spurs defence has been a catalyst during their winning streak. But when asked what the Spurs did to bottle up the Warriors, Thompson said, “Absolutely nothing. We just missed shots.”
Australia’s Andrew Bogut, who signed with the Warriors on March 6 after playing this season in the Australian National Basketball League, made his season debut for the Warriors. Bogut played 10 minutes and finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
“He looks good. He is a big help,” Curry said of Bogut. – AFP
