SAN ANTONIO – The Golden State Warriors are the gold standard for every team in the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs proved they can compete with the best despite an up and down season.

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points as he led the Spurs to a 111-105 victory over the Warriors (47-21) at the AT&T Center on Monday night.

The win was the ninth straight for San Antonio, who have also won 11 straight at the AT&T Center. The Spurs’ nine-game winning streak is currently the longest in the NBA.

“We worked very hard,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We made a lot of mistakes against the best team in basketball, the defending champs. The effort was there for 48 minutes and we learned a lot.”

Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Rudy Gay.

The Good:
  • The Spurs beat the Warriors. It is always a good thing when you beat the gold standard in a game.
  • DeMar DeRozan showed off his improvement on defense.
  • Rudy Gay and Patty Mills combined for 27 points off the bench for San Antonio in the win.
  • Derrick White had 12 points and four assists in 27 minutes of action.
  • Warriors guard Klay Thompson shot just 14 percent and finished with 14 points on the night.
The Bad:
  • San Antonio struggled to score in the third quarter as Golden State outscored the Spurs 31-24 in the period.
  • Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes combined for eight points on 3-for-12 shooting on the night.
Three Standout Players:

DeMar DeRozan:

The Spurs’ leading scorer not only scored a game-high in points but he showed his growth on the defensive end of the ball as he helped lead the Spurs to another win but this time, it was over the champs.

DeRozan scored a game-high 26 points and shot 52 percent from the floor. He added nine rebounds and eight assists to his stat line as well. Defensively, he stepped things up as he had a big steal on Stephen Curry and helped lock down Klay Thompson.

“That’s what he’s done all year,” Popovich said. “When he heads downhill and attacks the rim, good things usually happen. We do have good shooters and he finds them or he scores.”

LaMarcus Aldridge

The Spurs’ big man was guarded and double teamed but it made no difference has he and DeRozan powered the Silver and Black to victory.

Aldridge finished with 23 points on 66 percent shooting to go along with 13 rebounds. He had no problem going up against seasoned big man Andrew Bogut, Kevon Looney, or Draymond Green as he hit from the inside, outside, and fade away shots.

“LA was solid in the post,” said Popovich. “He didn’t get many opportunities but his defense and his rebounding have been huge.”

Rudy Gay

Gay continues to shine in his latest role coming off the bench and looks like he has shaken off all those flu symptoms with yet another solid game.

Rudy finished with 17 points off the bench, going 7-for-16 from the floor.

“It’s good to get a win,” Gay said. “We’ve beaten teams during this nine-game winning streak that we should’ve beaten. Now we’re proving we can beat these good teams.”

UP NEXT:

The Spurs are now 41-29 on the season and will return to the court on Wednesday night when they welcome the Miami Heat (34-36) to the AT&T Center at 7:30 pm Central Time to close out their homestand.

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