There was, technically and by legal definition, a regular-season game between two NBA teams inside Chase Center on Wednesday night.
There are few foes on the same level as the Spurs and superhuman Victor Wembanyama these days, and the especially bruised and battered group of Warriors that took their home court were a far cry from counting themselves among them.
Wembanyama continued to make his MVP case with 41 points and 18 rebounds while the Warriors fell behind 10-0 and hardly sniffed single digits again in a 127-113 loss to the hottest team in the NBA.
Missing his 26th consecutive game, Steph Curry led a list of inactives that was as long as Steve Kerr’s rotation. Of the nine players in uniform, seven scored in double figures, led by Nate Williams with 18 in a remarkable 47-minute effort. But who didn’t play mattered just as much as anyone who did.
The loss was the Warriors’ second in a row after a brief three-game winning streak against lesser opponents, but the outcomes of each individual game holds little meaning for a team that is more or less locked into the No. 10 seed, or at least the bottom play-in matchup.
There was more consequence in the pregame warmups: Curry went through his normal routine, and is reportedly targeting Sunday for a return from a two-month absence.
It’s possible that no version of these Warriors could contain Wembanyama and the Spurs — few have over their current 26-2 stretch — but the deck was stacked when the injury report dropped.
In addition to the seven rotation regulars already ruled out, Gui Santos (pelvis) and Gary Payton II (knee) were downgraded from questionable to out before tipoff.
Without Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford or Quinten Post, the Warriors were left with Omer Yurtseven — playing on his second 10-day contract — and two-way forward Malevy Leons as their only resistance besides the 6-foot-5 Green against Wembanyama.
Wembanyama had six points before the Warriors had any and scored 14 while the Spurs raced out to a 25-9 advantage before barely six minutes had expired. It took him two minutes into the second quarter to secure a double-double. By halftime, he had 27 and 13, and San Antonio led 70-49.
There seemed to be nothing the (listed) 7-foot-4 phenom wasn’t capable of against the undermanned Warriors. He wasn’t just the most valuable player on the court; he looked like the MVP of the entire league.
Brandin Podziemski looked well on his way to a big night — maybe even his first 30-point effort — after the first quarter. He was 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3 and 4-for-4 from the line with 12 of the Warriors’ 26 points in the opening period.
But Podziemski scored only two more points the rest of the night as Kerr limited him to 17 minutes. Williams picked up the slack with the most minutes by a Warrior in regulation since Harrison Barnes in 2014.
The Warriors should resemble something closer to full strength when they host the Cavaliers on Thursday in the second half of a back-to-back at Chase Center. Golden State opted for that matchup rather than Wembanyama for Porzingis, and there’s hope that De’Anthony Melton, Payton and Santos will be ready to play with an extra day.
If Curry continues to progress as hoped, it could also be the last of a 27-game absence.
