Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr (left) and San Antonio Spurs head coach George Popovich (right) converse on the floor of Chase Center in San Francisco on Fri Oct 20, 2023 (@warriors photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors played their final pre-season game Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs at the Chase Center. The Warriors lost for the first time by a score of 122-117.

The Spurs were led by their first-round pick, Victor Wembanyama. Webanyama is seven feet, four inches tall. He is 19 years old and appears to be a skilled offensive threat and a defensive force. Victor played 20 minutes and tallied 19 points, four rebounds, and an assist. He also blocked four shots. Victor will help get the Spurs back into the playoffs this year.

The Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, had players like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, and Kevon Looney exceed 20 minutes of playing time. Kerr did not want any of those guys to get hurt. Draymond Green did not play due to an ankle injury.

The Spurs ran the Warriors off the court in the first period. Wemanyama dominated play in the first seven minutes of the game. Victor scored 12 points in seven minutes and blocked three shots. The Warriors had trouble shooting over Wembanyama as he has a tremendous height advantage. The Spurs led 44-35 after the first 12 minutes, and Kerr had to be concerned about the Warriors lack of defense.

The Warriors held the Spurs to 28 points in the second quarter. They couldn’t cut the deficit as they also scored 28. Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 12 points in the first half. Dario Saris and Curry each had 11.

In the third quarter, Kerr had his starting five sit on the bench. Kerr wanted to see how Kuminga, Moses Moody, Dario Saric, and Corey Joseph would perform. The Spurs’ head coach, Greg Popovich, had his second unit on the floor, too. The Spurs increased the lead to 87-71. The Warriors tried to come back, but the Spurs seemed to have the answer to stop the Warriors challenge. The Warriors did close the gap and finished the third quarter trailing 98-91.

Moody got hot in the fourth quarter. Moody kept making three-point shots. Saric and Kuminga played well as the Warriors got within three points of tying the game. They trailed 120-117. The Spurs held onto win.

Game Notes- The takeaways from the game for Golden State is this: The second unit will be better than last year’s version. Kerr had to be impressed with the plays of Kuminga, Moody, and Saric. It will be interesting to see if Chris Paul will be the leader of the second unit.

The other question for the Warriors is the age of their key player. Paul is 38, Curry is 35, and Green and Thompson are 33. Will they go through the grueling 82-game NBA season without injury? Let’s hope the younger players on the team can pick up the slack if any of the stars are hurt.

The Spurs will be much better with Wembanyama. The young man from France appears to be a future superstar. The one concern will be his ability to be a force against NBA players with bigger frames. Will he handle Anthony Davis, LeBron James, or Nikola Jokic? He has a slight frame. He does weigh 220 pounds, but that is spread over seven feet, four inches. Will he have the stamina to play 36 to 42 minutes in a game? Those questions will be answered soon when the regular season starts.

The regular season starts on Tuesday, October 24th. The Warriors will host the Phoenix Suns. Kevin Durant will be at the Chase Center for the first time since his Achilles heel injury in 2019. The Suns will also have Bradley Beal in the starting lineup.

The game will start at 7 p.m.