Golden State Warriors

Spurs-Warriors battle could set the table for playoffs (Mar 29, 2017)

Published Mar. 29, 2017 1:34 a.m. ET

There will be plenty on the line when the best two teams in the NBA square off on Wednesday at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

But don't expect the visiting Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs to put more emphasis on this game than they would any other contest in the run up to the playoffs.

After all, both teams sat their star players because of injury or rest in the last encounter on March 11 in San Antonio. The result that night, a 107-85 win for the Spurs, granted San Antonio any tiebreakers should the teams be knotted at the end of the season.

Another San Antonio win on Wednesday, when both teams are expected to play their normal starters save for Warriors forward Kevin Durant (who's still out with an injured left knee), would draw San Antonio closer to Golden State's spot atop the Western Conference. The Spurs are 2 1/2 games behind Golden State with nine games to play.

San Antonio (57-16) comes into the showdown with the Warriors on the heels of a dominating 103-74 victory over defending league champion Cleveland on Monday. Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs' erstwhile MVP candidate, had 25 points in the win despite sitting out all but the first minute of the fourth quarter.

The victory was the fifth straight for San Antonio and the second time this season the Spurs beat the Cavaliers. San Antonio is 6-0 against the league's three other teams (Golden State, Boston and Cleveland) that can earn conference titles.

Despite the ease with which his team handled the Cavaliers, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich refused to say that playing as well as it did against one of the NBA's best teams was a measuring stick.

"We had a really good night defensively -- everything came from that," Popovich said. "We just play the games and in every one there's some good and some there's some bad. We'll watch the film and go over what we think we could have done better. At this point of the season, you are what you are."

Golden State heads to the Alamo City off a 113-106 shootout win in Houston on Tuesday. Stephen Curry had 32 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Warriors while Klay Thompson and Draymond Green added 25 and 19 points.

It was the 11th time this season that both Curry and Thompson scored at least 25 points in the same game.

The Warriors never trailed on Tuesday, set the pace by building a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 22 points. Golden State held on despite committing 17 turnovers that led to 20 points for Houston.

It's the sixth straight time the Warriors visit San Antonio for the second game of a back-to-back set.

After initially struggling to win without Durant, Golden State has reclaimed its dominating form and is rolling toward the postseason. The Warriors (60-14) have won eight games in a row since a three-game losing streak that culminated in the defeat at San Antonio on March 11.

"We've really responded well to playing without KD," Thompson said of Durant. "Obviously, it's a challenge, but we're going to be that much better when he comes back."

With the win over Houston, Warriors coach Steve Kerr earned his 200th career coaching victory in 238 games, becoming the fastest in NBA history to reach the milestone. Golden State also became just the sixth team in league history to win 60 regular-season games in three straight seasons.