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Tuesday, Nov. 9 10:30pm ET
Warriors held to nine 1st-quarter points | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Pity the Golden State Warriors. They had to play the San Antonio Spurs while the defending NBA champions were still surly from their first loss of the season. Tim Duncan scored 19 points and led a suffocating defensive effort that held Golden State to nine first-quarter points as the Spurs beat the Warriors 118-89 Tuesday night.
Despite substituting freely in a game they led by as many as 32 points, the Spurs had seven players in double figures, including Malik Rose with 21 and Mario Elie and Samaki Walker with 13 apiece. David Robinson, Avery Johnson and Terry Porter added 10 points each, helping the Spurs rebound from their only loss this season 77-74 on Sunday at Phoenix. "That is one good thing about this team, guys get mad around here. We look forward to playing again. Unfortunately, the Warriors had to be in our way," Elie said. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said this year's Spurs take losses the same way as last year's championship club _ hard. "In the NBA, you get a big lead, you get scared to death because people are going to come back and you lose concentration," he said. "But I think we kept our concentration really well and kept hammering them. "We just kept executing the whole game, which is a great sign and, I think, a product of losing our last game. Our team has that personality. That personality exists with this team like it did with last year's team." Golden State fell behind 34-9 after the first quarter, converting just four of 21 shots from the field (19 percent) while facing constant defensive pressure. Antawn Jamison was the lone Warrior starter to score at least 10 points. No other starter for Golden State had more than seven points and the team's first five appeared hopelessly overmatched against Spurs, trying to become the seventh NBA team to win a championship at least two seasons in a row. Tony Farmer's 19 points led Golden State, which lost its sixth straight to the Spurs. The game quickly got out of hand for the Warriors, who were outscored 17-1 over the final 6:07 of the first period. Johnson began the flurry with a fastbreak layup and Porter hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The home crowd let the Warriors know their disgust with a thundering round of boos. One fan yelled at coach P.J. Carlesimo, "Hey, I want my money back!" "Terrible!" yelled another. "To hear the fans boo us, that's the worst feeling you could ever have as an NBA player," Jamison said. "Our fans, they have stuck with us through the highs and lows but it's frustrating for them. A piece of me just wants to do it for them because they've been with us for so long. They have high expectations for us. We just keep coming up short." The frustrations also became evident on the floor as the Spurs kept getting open looks and easy baskets. Golden State's Terry Cummings was whistled for a flagrant foul when he hauled down Porter underneath the basket early in the second period, and John Starks drew another flagrant foul in the third quarter when he grabbed a wide-open Robinson by the neck beneath the basket and dragged him to the floor. The Warriors made just one of their 10 3-point tries while San Antonio converted 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. All 24 players got into the game and 23 of them scored. Jerome Kersey was the only one who didn't, going 0-for-8 from the field.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard San Antonio Clubhouse Golden State Clubhouse |