Spurs Hang Tough with Warriors, Steph Curry But Fall in The Bay

The San Antonio Spurs gave the Golden State Warriors fits throughout Friday's meeting at Chase Center, but faltered in the fourth quarter en route to a double-digit loss.

With just six games left in their worst season in over 20 years, the San Antonio Spurs entered Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday with a chance to play a bit of the spoiler role against the Golden State Warriors.

But the the defending champion Warriors have had far from their ideal season. Entering Friday as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and just one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors have put themselves in danger of settling for having to fight their way to the postseason through the play-in tournament as a potential No. 7 or 8 seed.

And after three strong quarters - and an early 0 of 13 start from 3-point range by the Warriors -  the Spurs led 88-87 headed into the fourth quarter.

However, the Warriors unsurprisingly blew the doors open in the final frame as they've done countless times over the years, cruising to a 130-115 win over San Antonio.

The Spurs (19-58) got a team-high 22 points from forward Keldon Johnson while rookie guard Malaki Branham added 19 points and seven rebounds. All five SA starters reached double figures in scoring. Veteran center Gorgui Dieng posted 14 points on 4 of 4 shooting from deep to go along with nine rebounds.

Golden State (41-37) got a game-high 33 points from star guard Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson added 31 of his own, as the Splash Brothers both hit seven triples apiece.

Guard Jordan Poole came off the bench to post 27 points on six more 3s, as Golden State went 21 of 49 from beyond the arc.

Even against a Warriors team that had all of its stars in action, the Spurs got off to a hot start on the defensive end, forcing five turnovers and taking a 15-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Branham was an early factor, scoring seven points during this run.

San Antonio's defense continued to smother, but benefited by some unfortunate misses from the Warriors. Golden State, which leads the league in 3-point makes (16.5) and attempts (43.1) per game, was 0 of 10 from distance as the first quarter came to a close.

After a defensive-filled first quarter, the Spurs led 26-23.

Right after the eight-minute mark in the second quarter, Curry finally hit the Warriors' first two triples of the game on back-to-back possessions, the second of which resulted in a four-point play. Golden State had cut SA's lead to 35-34 after starting 0 of 13 from 3-point range.

But Branham stayed aggressive, as he had tied Curry with a game-high 14 points at the 3:35 mark of the second quarter. The Spurs still refused to budge, maintaining a 44-43 lead.

However, it was obvious that the defending champions were gonna have a run in them. The Warriors hadn't held a lead since it was 2-0, but used 12 straight points from Poole to take a 52-46 edge.

The Spurs survived this scoring burst a trailed by just three at 54-51 headed into the locker room on the road.

But surprise, surprise. On a team that features arguably the two best shooters of all time, the Warriors started to look like themselves.

Curry got the second half started with his fourth triple of the game before Thompson got eight quick points of his own on two made 3s to build a 72-61 lead.

The Spurs seemed inspired as a result. Johnson hit back-to-back 3s before forward Julian Champagnie did the same thing less than a minute later.

A double-digit lead for Golden State had suddenly been erased. After Dieng hit his third triple of the game, the Spurs took a 77-74 lead with a little over four minutes left in the third after an 11-0 run.

San Antonio stayed steady and maintained an 88-87 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

But things turned sour in a blink for the Spurs, as they succumbed to Golden State's hot shooting late before stumbling to a blowout loss.

SA will stay in the state of California ahead of Sunday's road meeting with the Sacramento Kings.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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