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SPURS GAMEDAY: Sledding gets tougher for slumping Silver and Black

After facing Golden State on Sunday, the Spurs play five of their next six games on the road.
Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan, scoring on a layup against Houston Rockets center Clint Capela, had a team-high 11 rebounds in San Antonio's 96-89 victory on Nov. 10 at the AT&T Center. Photo by Antonio Morano (bit.ly/XR79FT) / Special to KENS5.com

GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE

Golden State Warriors (12-5) vs. Spurs (7-7)

When, where: Sunday, 6 p.m., AT&T Center

Last season: Warriors won series 3-1

All-time series record: Spurs lead 107-60

Last meeting: Spurs 89, Warriors 75, March 19, 2018

Warriors' last game: Lost to Mavericks 112-109, Saturday, Dallas

Spurs' last game: Lost to Clippers, 116-111, Thursday, Los Angeles

Warriors' last 10 games/streak: 6-4, lost two

Spurs' last 10 games/streak: 5-5, lost three

Warriors injury/inactive report: Guard Stephen Curry (groin), out; Draymond Green (toe), out; forward Alfonzo McKinnie (foot), day-to-day.

Spurs' injury/inactive report: Forward Davis Bertans (concussion protocol), out; forward Drew Eubanks (with G League team), out; center Pau Gasol (left foot soreness), out; guard Dejounte Murray (right ACL), out; guard Lonnie Walker IV (right medial meniscus tear), out.

Notable: The Warriors have eliminated the Spurs each of the past two seasons . . . The Spurs play five of their next seven games on the road. After playing at New Orleans on Monday and hosting Memphis on Wednesday, the Silver and Black have four consecutive road games . . . . Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan has 100 career games with 30+ points . . . Forward LaMarcus Aldridge has 150 total rebounds, the most by a Spur in the first 14 games of the season since Tim Duncan in 2006. h/t Jordan Howenstine

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GAME PREVIEW

SAN ANTONIO – Stuck in a three-game skid, the Spurs don’t expect any sympathy from the Golden State Warriors when square off Sunday night at the AT&T Center.

They know the defending NBA champions have problems of their own with injuries and a well-chronicled squabble between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.

The Warriors (7-5) have lost three of their last four games and are 0-2 on their Texas trip. They lost to Dallas 112-109 on Saturday and to Houston 107-86 on Thursday.

Prolific guard Stephen Curry (groin) and Green (toe) won’t play against San Antonio (7-7) because of injuries. But until the Spurs start to play better defense and learn how to close games, they’re going to struggle to beat anybody – regardless of who they play.

The Silver and Black are coming off a three-game road trip in which they went winless. They opened the set with losses to two opponents they’ve dominated for years, Sacramento and Phoenix.

San Antonio had beaten Sacramento 14 consecutive times before losing to the Kings 104-99 on Monday. The Spurs had won 15 of the last 16 meetings with the Suns, including a 30-point blowout on Halloween night. But Phoenix turned the tables in the rematch Wednesday, rolling to a 30-point victory.

Backup guard Patty Mills said that the Silver and Black have remained positive despite their slump.

“Collectively, the mindset is at a place where we’re trying to get better and understanding the things that we need to get better at,” Mills said. “We came into this year knowing that these were going to be our challenges. It wasn’t like we had expectations that at a certain point we can’t handle this sort of deal.

“Going through something like this, we knew it was going to happen at some point, and it’s just having the patience to go through this, because I think this is making us better for the long run. It’s just a matter of hanging in there and keeping heads high, keeping confidence, so we can go into the next game and continue to get better.”

Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double in a 96-89 victory against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 10 at the AT&T Center, finishing with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Photo by Antonio Morano (bit.ly/XR79FT) / Special to KENS5.com

All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan also commented on the Spurs’ attitude as they go through this rough patch in the season.

“Everybody on this team hates losing,” he said. “We want to figure it out as soon as possible. Our patience is shortened as well because we want to get on top of this thing and get rolled. We understand that once we get to clicking and rolling, we’re going to be fine.”

After hosting Golden State, the Spurs will play five of their next six games on the road.

“It’s always good to be back home in your own bed,” Mills said. “In a way, hit the reset button. We’re in the middle of a pretty brutal stretch physically, and coming up against some really good teams. The mindset is good. We’re moving on to the next one and learned what we need to learn from the last games.”

DeRozan is averaging 25.6 points and 6.3 assists, both team highs, and LaMarcus Aldridge is the rebounding leader with 11 per game. Aldridge has averaged 17.4 points, but he scored only 30 points in the Spurs’ most recent road trip. He made only 12 of 39 shots.

Aldridge had another six-point game, in a 95-88 loss at Miami on Nov. 7, when he hit only 2 of 14 field-goal attempts. He followed that with a 27-point game (12-27) in a 96-89 win over Houston three days later at the AT&T Center.

“We definitely need him,” DeRozan said, when he was asked about Aldridge’s scoring. “Like I said, once that rhythm comes, how we’re playing, how we’re moving the ball and finding him, it’s going to come. We definitely need him to score.”

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