The Golden State Warriors have let slip a 17-point late third-quarter lead to suffer their fourth defeat of the season against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center on Saturday,
A Kevon Looney layup extended the Warrior advantage to 17 with just over two minutes remaining, but scored just 13 points for the remainder of the game as the Spurs completely took control in a dominant fourth-quarter.
The Warriors fell 104-94 to the Spurs on Saturday
A combination of factors were at play in what resulted as 40-13 run over the final 14 minutes of the game. San Antonio undoubtedly lifted their intensity against a Golden State team playing their third game in four nights, hustling for some huge offensive rebounds and causing turnovers while finally starting to hit some shots from beyond the arc.
They were also aided by some questionable refereeing calls, including a sequence early in the fourth-quarter where Victor Wembanyama seemingly fouled Trayce Jackson-Davis and goal-tended Moses Moody's put-back attempt, only for neither to be called before Kyle Anderson was penalized for a transition take foul.
The Warriors were still leading by seven at that point, with the Spurs taking full toll of perhaps a friendly homecourt whistle. Regardless, Golden State simply weren't good enough to push back against a barrage of momentum.
Stephen Curry was well blanketed by rookie Stephon Castle and the rest of the Spurs defense, with the 2x MVP finishing with just 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting and 3-of-10 from 3-point range. Andrew Wiggins continued his impressive form with 15 first-half points, but once he cooled off in the second-half, the Warriors had very little else to turn to.
Golden State shot just 37.9% from the line and 31.8% from 3-point range, with the absence of Jonathan Kuminga due to illness not helping the team's offensive struggles. Buddy Hield made his first three triples on his way to 11 points by early in the second-quarter, yet failed to add any more as the Warrior bench failed to come to the party.
Brandin Podziemski went scoreless and was a team-low -14, while fellow youngster Moses Moody shot 2-of-8 from the floor and was a -13. Trayce Jackson-Davis (12) and Lindy Waters III (11) joined Wiggins (20) and Curry in double figure scoring, but the Warriors went ice cold in scoring just four points in nearly seven minutes to close the game.
The Warriors have now surrendered an outright hold on top spot of the Western Conference and will now look to bounce back at home against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.