San Antonio Spurs — Golden State Warriors 123:85: result and stats

The NBA Cup’s West Group C offers a collision of two teams whose seasons were, until very recently, among the league’s hottest stories. San Antonio Spurs have won ten straight and sit second in the Western Conference at 10-2. Golden State Warriors had ripped off eight consecutive wins of their own before a loss in Houston that cost them more than a single game. The Spurs are regarded as 89 percent likely to win, with a combined score around 220 points expected. The defining subplot, however, is the absence of Stephen Curry, whose oblique tear has shifted the entire complexion of this matchup.

San Antonio’s streak is built on a two-way foundation

The Spurs have not lost since October, and their recent stretch has been defined by balance rather than mere brilliance. Victor Wembanyama is averaging 30.3 points and 11.7 rebounds, but the supporting cast has been equally important. Dylan Harper is averaging 17.8 points on 50.4 percent shooting over his last ten games, and the comeback win in Chicago featured six players in double figures. San Antonio scores 121.6 points per game during the streak while holding opponents to 106.6, a margin that reflects both offensive depth and defensive discipline. The Spurs also lead the Western Conference with 13.1 offensive rebounds per game, a statistic that speaks to their physicality and second-chance creation.

Curry’s absence changes everything for Golden State

The Warriors will be without Stephen Curry for at least two weeks after an MRI confirmed an oblique abdominal tear. Curry had been in mid-season form during the eight-game run, averaging 32.6 points on 52.8 percent shooting, and his exit in Houston after just six minutes was the turning point in the streak-ending loss. Golden State’s depth has been tested before, but the numbers are sobering: the Warriors went 13-26 in the 39 games Curry missed last season. Draymond Green has insisted this group is better equipped to withstand the absence, pointing to improved certainty about its identity, but the offensive burden now falls on Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg and De’Anthony Melton. Lendeborg’s 25-point, 10-rebound double-double against Houston offered a glimpse of the interior scoring the Warriors will need to replicate.

The Spurs have injury questions of their own

San Antonio’s dominance has not come without absences. De’Aaron Fox is questionable with left hip soreness, and Devin Vassell has missed two straight games with adductor tightness; both are game-time decisions. Tobias Harris (calf strain) and Jayden Quaintance (knee surgery) are out. Fox’s playmaking and Vassell’s perimeter shooting are meaningful parts of the Spurs’ machinery, and their potential absence would place more creation duties on Harper and Stephon Castle. The Warriors, meanwhile, are also without Jimmy Butler III (knee), Moses Moody (knee) and Kristaps Porziņģis (illness), thinning a rotation that was already leaning heavily on its younger contributors.

The matchups that will shape the night

The most consequential battle sits inside, where Wembanyama’s length and mobility meet a Golden State frontcourt that lacks Porziņģis. The Warriors will likely send doubles early and force the Spurs’ shooters to beat them from the perimeter, a strategy that depends on rotations sharp enough to recover to Harper and Castle. At the other end, Podziemski and Melton must generate enough off the dribble to keep the offense afloat without Curry’s gravitational pull. Golden State’s best path is to play fast, hunt threes and turn the game into a possession race; San Antonio’s preference is a more controlled half-court battle in which Wembanyama can anchor both ends.

What the numbers suggest

The Spurs hold an 89 percent likelihood of victory, and the expected combined score of about 220 points points to a game that could be decided well before the final minutes. Both teams are 1-0 in group play, so a win would give San Antonio control of West Group C and extend a streak that has already become the league’s most compelling early-season story. For Golden State, the task is to prove that its improved depth and competitive spirit can survive without the player who makes everything function. The records, the injury reports and the trajectories all point in one direction, but the Warriors have spent the past two weeks proving they are not easily written off.

Preview prepared from the match data · 13 November