San Antonio comes home from a 4-game road swing it swept, and the last of those was its closest call. The Spurs trailed a 1-9 Bulls team 70-56 at halftime in Chicago, won the 3rd quarter 34-19, and got out with a 124-119 win, their 5th straight. Victor Wembanyama had 32 points and 5 blocks, and that's about normal for him lately. Coming into that trip-ender he was averaging 37.8 points over a 4-game stretch, up from 25.7 over his first 7 games.
The Spurs have been winning without 2 regulars on the wing. Devin Vassell (adductor) sat in Chicago, and Tobias Harris has been out with a calf strain since the start of the season. Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox made up for it by running the offense: 19 assists and 7 steals between them against the Bulls. A short rotation works on a road trip against bad teams. It's harder against a Warriors team that, with Curry on the floor, will make you guard 30 feet from the rim.
Even the 87-point win over New Orleans in the Warriors' last 5 doesn't change the matchup at the center of this one. Golden State has nobody who can handle Wembanyama for 35 minutes, and the man who was supposed to stretch the floor at center is gone. So the Warriors' path is pace and shooting: score in transition before the Spurs set their defense and make Wembanyama come out to guard the 3-point line. That plan works a lot better with Curry. Tip is 8:30 PM CT, and his status will be the most important update before it.
Both teams are on short rest. Golden State played in Houston Wednesday and then travels, while San Antonio gets home after a week on the road. Spurs-Warriors in November usually wouldn't mean much, but 8-3 against 10-2 with 2 MVP-level players at the top is a real game, if both of them suit up.
