2 winners and 2 losers from the Golden State Warriors final preseason game

Following an unbeaten 4-0 record start to preseason, the Golden State Warriors fell 122-117 to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night in their final outing before Tuesday night’s regular season opener.

As has been the case for much of the preseason, it was the Warriors younger players who impressed in an attempted fightback over the game’s final 18 minutes.

Despite the loss, there were positives to take from the Golden State Warriors final preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Golden State’s defense has been an element of concern throughout preseason, and it was fully exploited early by the young but talented visitors. Led by an awe-inspiring display from number one overall pick Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs poured in 44 points in the first-quarter on nearly 70% shooting.

The lead remained nine at half-time after an even second-quarter, before the Spurs starters again exuded their dominance by extending it to 18 a little over four minutes into the third.

Steve Kerr had returned to his veteran starting lineup of Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney, all of whom recored a negative double-digit plus-minus.

The Warriors bench unit made a game of it in the fourth, even threatening late as a pair of Moses Moody triples cut the deficit to three with 10 seconds left. San Antonio held on though, and rightfully so given they were the better team for the majority of the contest.

There were positives and negatives to take for Golden State, although the latter may be more focused on team aspects like turnovers and rebounding rather than individual perspectives. Overall, it was a bright preseason for the Warriors who should feel better about themselves than this time two weeks ago.

Let’s have a look at two winners and two losers from their preseason finale: