Spurs Smack Warriors As Curry’s 3-Point Streak Ends

Heading into last night’s game between the Warriors and Spurs, Stephen Curry had hit at least one 3-pointer in 76 consecutive games. It was the highest streak among active players today. But with San Antonio in town, that streak came to an end during a 113-100 Spurs win that solidified them as the jewel of the Western Conference.

After looking at all seven 3-point attempts by Curry last night, it’s not like the Spurs did anything particularly genius, or added a nefarious element to their defense in an effort to prevent him from connecting from long-range. He had a pair of wide open looks at short corner three’s, including one where he pump-faked Kawhi Leonard past him and still couldn’t find the bottom of the nylon.

And it’s not like he was just jacking shots from deep. He was 7-for-11 inside the arc, including this pretty coast-to-coast layup plus the foul where he made Danny Green lose his jock when he reachead for a steal near mid-court:

Curry even cut down on his turnovers, with just three of them after committing 10 in Golden State’s first loss of the season against the Suns on Sunday.

With Curry cold, Klay Thompson stepped up and was 5-of-6 from beyond the arc for a team-high 29 points. Even Harrison Barnes added 22 points on an efficient 9-of-12 night shooting. Still, Golden State — who had been the last undefeated team in the NBA before Phoenix beat them Sunday night — needed more from Curry if they were going to beat a Spurs team that’s just rounding into form after starting the year an uncharacteristic 2-and-3.

Tony Parker scored a team-high 28 (11/17) and dished seven assists. Kawhi Leonard, who appears fully recovered from the eye infection that knocked him out for most of the preseason and the first few games of the 2014-15 campaign, added 19 (7/11), Manu Ginobili poured in 17 more and Tim Duncan finished with a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds).

The Spurs are still the class of the Western Conference, and their play down the strech last night showed it.

Who can beat the Spurs?

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