Spurs put win streak on the line against inexplicably scary Warriors

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Maybe it’s last year’s competitive second round series, maybe it’s the fact that Stephen Curry can do this to just about anyone, but the Golden State Warriors make me nervous.

They shouldn’t because they’ve been incredibly inconsistent this season and are without their defensive anchor in Andrew Bogut. They also are coming off a back-and-forth overtime win in Dallas that probably has them exhausted. Also, the Spurs have owned them this season regardless of who is playing.

So no, I shouldn’t be concerned about the Warriors. You could argue that the Spurs might be looking past them with Oklahoma City looming Thursday night, but that hasn’t been a problem for this Spurs team during this 18-game winning streak. They seem to be taking the one game at a time mantra to heart. Gregg Popovich, generally speaking, can coach the pants off Mark Jackson when Jackson isn’t feuding with his coaches. The Warriors bench is pretty terrible when they’re healthy and they’re not even healthy right now.

I imagine this nagging feeling is going to go away before tip-off. One player not named LeBron James or Kevin Durant shouldn’t strike fear in me like that. Curry is awesome, but the Warriors have so much else going on right now, this game shouldn’t concern Spurs fans. However, this is a team that’s won six of their last 10 games and has every incentive to win as many games as they can in April.

Currently, they sit just two games ahead of Phoenix and Memphis for sixth place in the West and are only 2 1/2 games up on Dallas in ninth. Failing to make the playoffs would be a disaster for this team. They’re also only two games out of fifth place, which would most likely earn them a date with a hobbled Houston Rockets team (possibly no Patrick Beverly in round one) instead of a red-hot Los Angeles Clippers.

So yes, turns out there is a reason to fear the Warriors. It’s desperation. It can be a funny thing, especially when the Spurs are devoid of desperation, distracted or if San Antonio has an off-shooting night. The Spurs haven’t shown us many off-nights over the past month, but we know it’s coming. It could come tonight and a streaky team like the Warriors could be the ones to stop the Spurs winning streak.

Tip-off from the AT&T Center is set for 7:30 pm central and the game can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest. For Spurs fans looking for tickets to tonight’s game, visit our friends at TiqIQ.

  • wanders

    Here’s the question: does Pop sit his starters tonight, or tomorrow? I’m guessing the AT&T center crowd would be unhappy to see Timmeh, Tony or Manu in a suit at the end of the pine, and yet from a confidence perspective, I think it would be useful to prove that the Spurs can beat OKC, especially on the road. Thoughts?

  • Jordan Hedge

    I know this most likely won’t happen, but I could see Pop playing most of his guys the next two games, assuming none of them get overworked in tonight’s game, and then resting a lot of guys against Memphis because they are a very physical team. I also could see him resting TD tonight, then resting Manu tomorrow. Really, it’s a total guess as to who sits or if anyone sits at all, although with 5th game in 7 nights you’d have to think some rest is coming for a number of guys.

    Did I cover all my bases there? I think so.

  • quairaus

    I would much prefer Pop sit all of the guys against Memphis and have that be a scheduled loss just from a seeding perspective. Helps Grizzlies edge up to #7 so that OKC will play them in the first round while we get Mavericks. I am pretty confident of our matchup against both Dallas and Memphis but as you mentioned, Memphis is a much more physical team. Also, it would be great to get as much help from the other Western Conf teams in exhausting those young athletic freaks over at OKC as much as possible before we have to meet them.

  • Graham

    We don’t need to prove anything against OKC. If anything them sweeping the series against us may cause them to overlook us if we do end up meeting. Nabbing a game from them because they weren’t properly prepared for us at full strength is probably all we’d need to win a series against them.

  • Genaro Morasco

    I hope so, OKC just seems more focused when they play the Spurs.

  • Graham

    That’s what we can count on, them thinking all they need to do is ‘flip the switch’ against us and they have us beat.