NBA: Spurs take home division title with beatdown of short-handed Warriors 

SAN ANTONIO - The lineup changed but not the result.

The San Antonio Spurs, with all of their key players available for a change against Golden State, defeated the Warriors 111-90 on Wednesday night (Thursday, PHL time) to complete a sweep of the four-game season series.

The victory also extended San Antonio's franchise record regular-season winning streak to 19 games.
 

The Spurs (59-16) won twice at Golden State this season playing without some, or all, of their so-called Big Three players. The first victory came without forward Tim Duncan, guard Tony Parker and guard Manu Ginobili. Duncan and Ginobili missed the second win.

On Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time), Parker led the way with 18 points and eight assists. Duncan produced 15 points and eight rebounds. Ginobli had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Golden State (46-29) was missing three injured starters this time -- forward Andre Iguodala, forward David Lee and center Andrew Bogut. Lee and Bogut have missed multiple games; Iguodala was given the night off because of right knee tendinitis after playing more than 40 minutes in an overtime win at Dallas on Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time).

Guard Stephen Curry, who leads Golden State in scoring at nearly 24 points per game, was limited to 11 by the Spurs. Reserve forward-center Marreese Speights led the Warriors with 22 points - 16 more than his average. Guards Jordan Crawford and Klay Thompson scored 16 and 15, respectively.

San Antonio led 57-42 at halftime, making its work look incredibly easy during the first quarter in particular.

The Spurs made one push of 14-0 and another with 11 straight points - both streaks in the first quarter, when they took a 17-point lead.

Duncan made 6-of-7 shots from the field for 12 points in the first quarter. Parker had four assists and forward Kawhi Leonard stole three Golden State passes in a span of 1 minute, 19 seconds.

Golden State made a bit of a run at the Spurs in the second quarter, cutting the deficit briefly to nine points. The Warriors' rally was not led by their renowned guards, Curry and Thompson. Instead, Crawford, a backup, scored 11 points in the quarter, matching his average per game.

The Warriors made another push in the third quarter, pulling to within seven. But San Antonio finished the quarter with another long scoring streak - 13-0 - during the final four minutes. - Reuter


The scores:

SPURS 111 - Parker 18, Duncan 15, Mills 13, Ginobili 13, Belinelli 12, Leonard 11, Ayres 9, Diaw 8, Green 5, Splitter 4, Joseph 3

WARRIORS 90 - Speights 22, Crawford 16, Thompson 15, Barnes 11, Curry 11, Green 8, Armstrong 7, O’Neal 0, Blake 0

San Antonio     31-26-30-24
Golden State    18-24-24-23