Warriors Race Towards History

The epic meeting on Monday night between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors was a little less than epic.

There’s little doubt these are the two best teams in the NBA, and now there’s little doubt which is clearly the best.

The Warriors blew out the Spurs 120-90 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, not only ending the Spurs’ 13-game winning streak but handing them their worst loss in nearly four years.

“We’ve got a long way to go to play with those guys,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said afterwards.

Everyone knows it. Lots of people saw it. The game set a record for NBA TV as the network’s most-watched game, averaging 1.4 million viewers.

Popovich’s team is 38-7 and 12 ½ games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division. The Warriors? A mere 41-4 (and 21-0 at home), putting them 12 games up on the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.

The Spurs and Warriors don’t play again until March 19, so there’s time for the Spurs to fix what ails them. Only it doesn’t ail them against anybody but the Warriors, who take preposterous shots from impossible range and manage to hit them time and again. The Warriors are home again on Wednesday night, this time against the Dallas Mavericks.

For now the Spurs must collect themselves and get back to being the second-best team in the league. They’ll play at home on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, the last team to defeat them before the Spurs ran them over. Let’s see if they pass this test.

Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman