Mills leads Spurs past Warriors in game minus top stars

(AP Photo/Darren Abate)

SAN ANTONIO – Patty Mills had 21 points and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 107-85 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night in a game short on star power to pull within a half-game of the NBA's top record.

The big showdown between the league's top two teams turned into a huge letdown with both teams missing their star players.

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Already without Kevin Durant due to a knee injury, Golden State opted to rest Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.

The Spurs were expecting to be without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray due to injuries, but received a jolt when they were informed that LaMarcus Aldridge will be out indefinitely with a minor heart arrhythmia.

Aldridge underwent tests Saturday and will have more Monday. David Lee had another solid game in Aldridge's absence. Lee scored 12 points and added six rebounds.

Lee acknowledged it was different without many of the starters playing, but the recent Sacramento win helped the team's mind set.  

"It was kind of a strange game going into it not knowing who was playing," Lee said. "We had been there before, in that game we came out not as aggressive as we should have been. Our goal tonight was to be aggressive and take the fight to them a little bit and try to put them away. I thought we did a decent job of that."

"We've been getting along this season because everyone is on the same page," Mills said. "And no matter who's on the floor, or who's not, everyone understands the game plan, understands our system and where we're trying to get in terms of our big picture." 

Ian Clark had 36 points to lead Golden State, which suffered its third straight loss and fifth in seven games.

The Spurs have also beaten the Warriors twice this season with one matchup remaining in San Antonio on March 29.

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said the decision to sit his all-star players was difficult, but he needed to do what was best for his team.

"I genuinely feel bad for the fans who bought tickets and came to see Steph or Klay, or Draymond, but I have to do what I have to do," Kerr said. "Our team has been through the ringer the last couple of weeks. The travel has really worn us out, and we really needed to get through this game."

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said they would accept the win, but the playing field was not level.

"We're supposed to win a basketball game like that and we focused and we did it," Popovich said. "We did our job, but it wasn't a fair fight."

The Spurs host Atlanta on Monday with tip-off from the AT&T Center set for 7 p.m.


About the Authors:

RJ Marquez is the traffic anchor/reporter for KSAT’s Good Morning San Antonio. He also fills in as a news anchor and has covered stories from breaking news and Fiesta to Spurs championships and high school sports. RJ started at KSAT in 2010. He is proud to serve our viewers and be a part of the culture and community that makes San Antonio great.