LOS ANGELES—The San Antonio Spurs shut down Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, winning the clash of NBA heavyweights 87-79 on Saturday to remain perfect on their home floor this season.
The reigning NBA champion Warriors might be marching toward a single-season record for victories, but they still couldn’t find a way to win in San Antonio, where they haven’t come away with a victory since February 14, 1997.
The Spurs, who have put together a magnificent season in the shadow of Golden State, improved to 59-10 and 35-0 at home. They have won 44 straight regular-season games in San Antonio in a streak dating to last March.
San Antonio’s streak is tied for the second-longest in NBA history behind only the continuing home streak of Golden State, now at 50 games.
The Spurs held the Warriors scoreless over the final 2:33, building a three-point lead to the final eight-point margin as they asserted themselves against a Warriors team that beat them in Oakland on January 25.
Spurs point guard Tony Parker said San Antonio learned from that game that they couldn’t let the Warriors dictate the pace.
“This time we tried to slow it down and tried to control it,” Parker said, and the strategy worked — at least this time.
“I think the whole league is trying to figure them out,” Parker said. “I’m not saying we’ve figured them out, but it was better than the last game.”
San Antonio cut the Warriors’ first-place lead in the Western Conference to three games with two more matchups between the two remaining in the regular season.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who held reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Curry to 14 points.
Curry connected on just four of 18 shots — only one of 12 from three-point range.
“He missed some shots he normally makes, but he also had to take some tough ones,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Curry missed seven three-point attempts before making his first over Aldridge to knot the score at 55-55 in the third quarter after the Spurs had led by as many as 11.