GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE
Spurs (35-21) vs. Golden State Warriors (42-13)
When, where: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Oakland, Calif.
Season series: Warriors lead 1-0
Last meeting: Warriors 112, Spurs 92, Nov. 2, AT&T Center
Spurs’ last game: Beat Suns 129-81, Wednesday, Phoenix
Warriors’ last game: Beat Mavericks 121-103, Thursday, Oakland
Spurs’ last 10 games, streak: 5-5, won one
Warriors’ last 10 games, streak: 6-4, won one
Spurs’ injury report: Spurs Rudy Gay (right heel bursitis), Kawhi Leonard (rehabbing quad injury), Dejounte Murray (sprained left ankle) and Tony Parker (back tightness) are out for Saturday’s game.
Notable: The 48-point margin in the Spurs’ 129-81 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday was the third largest in franchise history. A 51-point win against Philadelphia on Dec. 7, 2015, tops the list, followed by a 49-point rout of Memphis on Nov. 8, 1995 . . . LaMarcus Aldridge has been the Spurs’ top scorer in 41 of their 56 games this season, the most of any other player in the league (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee, 38, and Kyrie Irving, Boston, 35).
GAMEDAY PREVIEW
One of these days, the Spurs are going to have All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard back in the lineup when they play the Golden State Warriors. But it won't be Saturday.
Leonard, who has played in only nine games this season while he continues to battle a lingering quad injury, will be among four San Antonio players who will miss Saturday night's road game against the defending NBA champions.
Point guards Dejounte Murray and Tony Parker and veteran reserve forward Rudy Gay also are sidelined with injuries. Gay has missed the team's last 20 games with bursitis in his right heel, but playing without both Murray and Parker will be a new challenge for the Spurs.
Murray sprained his left ankle in a 48-point blowout of the Suns on Wednesday in Phoenix, and Parker emerged from the game with a sore back. With Murray and Parker out, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will hand the keys to the team's offense to veteran Patty Mills, who has played both guard positions this season.
"It doesn't matter who is on the floor, we have a system we all abide by," Mills said Friday. "We've had guys who understand their role and execute it. In that sense, it doesn't matter who is on the floor."
Mills, 29, has started only 30 games since signing with the Spurs as a free agent in March 2012. But he's been a key reserve for the team in the ensuing seasons, including the 2013-14 campaign that ended with the franchise's fifth NBA championship.
Mills has started 12 games this season, averaging 9.7 points and 2.6 assists in 23.9 minutes.
Saturday night's meeting with Golden State is the second of six consecutive road games for the Spurs, who started their annual Rodeo Road Trip with one of the most lopsided victories in franchise history Wednesday in Phoenix.
The Warriors are 1-0 against the Silver and Black this season, winning 120-92 on Nov. 2 at the AT&T Center. The Spurs played without Leonard and Parker, who was still recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left quadriceps.
Leonard hasn't played against Golden State since he went down with an ankle injury in Game 1 of last season's Western Conference finals. The Silver and Black were up by 23 when Leonard went to the bench, but lost the series opener 113-111.
Playing without Leonard and Parker, who sustained the worst injury of his career in Game 2 of the conference semifinals, the Spurs were swept by the explosive Warriors.
The Silver and Black jumped out to a 19-point lead in the first half against Golden State in their first meeting this season, but the Warriors stormed back to take a 20-point victory.
Golden State was led by the dynamic trio of Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Thompson led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, and Durant finished with 24 points.
Durant was 1 of 9 in the first half and scored only five points, but he made 8 of 9 attempts in the last two quarters. He finished 9 of 18 overall and was 2 of 4 from the three-point line. Curry scored 21 points, making 7 of 13 shots, including 3 of 4 three-pointers.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the San Antonio scoring with 24 points and Kyle Anderson, who has started in Leonard's spot at small forward for most of the season, added 16. Pau Gasol (11) was the only other Spur scoring in double figures. Aldridge also led the Silver and Black with 10 rebounds and finished with two blocks.
Up next for the Spurs after Saturday's game: at Utah, Monday, 8 p.m.
Next Spurs home game: vs. New Orleans, Wednesday, Feb. 28
