Warriors fall to Spurs 113-100 (w/video)

OAKLAND - The Golden State Warriors measured themselves against San Antonio and came away with a sobering perspective.

The Spurs easily defeated the Warriors 113-100 on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, driving home that the defending champs remain steps ahead despite Golden State’s new coach and offensive mindset.

As a disciple of San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, the Warriors’ Steve Kerr said before the game that going up against his former coach would be “extremely meaningful.”

Kerr then went out and watched the Warriors continue to turn the ball over, lose their cool at times and have their star player struggle at his specialty.

Klay Thompson poured in 29 points, but Stephen Curry was held to 16 points and failed to make a single 3-pointer. Curry’s streak of 75 consecutive games of making at least one shot from beyond the arc was stopped cold after he missed on each of his seven tries.

While the Warriors committed 20 turnovers, the Spurs only had eight.

Thompson, in his first game back from a sprained right hand, joined Draymond Green in being whistled for a technical foul after arguing a foul call.

The frustration during the Warriors’ second straight loss was compounded as San Antonio led by as many as 14 points and yet never really were threatened to lose that lead.

After Thompson hit a 3-pointer to cut the Spurs’ lead to 94-86, Tim Duncan on the other end of the court completed a three-point play after drawing a blocking foul on Green. Tony Parker later hit a back-breaking 3-pointer with 1:52 left to put the Spurs back up by 12 points.

The Spurs got the job done in the second game of a back-to-back by playing veterans in Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili. They had each played major minutes the previous night in a win against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Parker led San Antonio with 28 points, Kawhi Leonard added 19 and Ginobili had 17. Duncan notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The team stayed intact after winning it all last season and hasn’t missed a beat.

Harrison Barnes scored a season-high 22 points, with 11 of them coming in the first quarter as he turned back the clock to last season’s playoffs when he played well against San Antonio.

But it wasn’t nearly enough, as outside of Marreese Speights’ 11 points, the Warriors bench continued to struggle. Andre Iguodala finally made his first field goal in two games in the fourth quarter and finished with the two points and two rebounds in 22 minutes.

Before the game, Kerr expressed how much the game meant to him.

“What I owe Pop for what he did for me and my career, I can’t even begin to thank him,” Kerr said.

Popovich in turn praised his pupil as someone he noticed early on had what it took to become a coach.

“He’s inclusive,” Popovich said. “He’s participatory. He’s comfortable in his own skin. He’ll be himself. You’ll see him laugh at times. He can laugh at himself. He’s got that self-deprecating characteristic that’s really attractive. I think he’s a special guy, obviously.

“Steve was a no-brainer. There are certain guys on your teams that you know have just an intuitive feel for the game. They’re also natural leaders. They’re good people persons. They communicate well, have great work ethics, high intelligence, and he had all that stuff. ”

Afterward, the two friends shook hands, with Kerr appearing to jokingly tug at Popovich’s arm. It’ll have to be in their next meeting when the pupil can dare again to take down the teacher.

WARRIORS WAIVE NEDOVIC

Guard Nemanja Nedovic was waived after not playing in a single game, and Warriors are working with their 2013 first-round pick to facilitate a change of scenery.