OAKLAND – When the Warriors take the court Wednesday night, they’ll be facing a voluntarily diminished playoff-caliber opponent for the second consecutive game.
The Spurs will sit stars LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan for the same reasons the Lakers sat LeBron James last Saturday. The official reason, “load management,” is a fancy term for “rest.”
The Warriors (37-15) can’t afford to overlook San Antonio, typically one of the NBA’s most disciplined teams, when they meet at Oracle Arena. Coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at 6 o’clock with Warriors Outsiders, followed by Warriors pregame. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:35.
All coverage can be seen on the MyTeams App.
The Spurs (32-23) had their five-game win streak snapped by the Kings on Monday in Sacramento. DeRozan (24) points and Aldridge (22) were the team’s leading scorers in defeat.
“When they are down their two better players, two All-Stars, you’ve got to establish dominance early,” Klay Thompson said Wednesday after shootaround. “They’re still a very well run team and play great together.
“But you’ve got to take advantage when guys are resting, kind of like we did against the Lakers last Saturday.”
The Spurs won the first meeting this season, 104-92 on Nov. 18 in San Antonio.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Warriors
F Kevin Durant
F Draymond Green
C DeMarcus Cousins
G Klay Thompson
G Stephen Curry
Spurs
F Rudy Gay
F Davis Bertans
C Jakob Poeltl
G Marco Belinelli
G Bryn Forbes
INJURY REPORT
Warriors:C Damian Jones (L pectoral surgery) is listed as out.
Spurs:C Aldridge (load management), DeRozan (load management, L knee soreness), G Dejounte Murray (R ACL surgery) and G Derrick White (R heel soreness) are listed as out.
ROTATION OUTLOOK
Warriors: With a full three days between games, the Warriors should be rested and prepared to stay with a nine-man rotation, with Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney and Alfonzo McKinnie coming off the bench.
[RELATED: Real Kevin Durant is under a cloud, and Warriors need him to step out]
It’s conceivable that Jonas Jerebko could see meaningful minutes for the first time in more than three weeks. The ultimate goal would be to build a big lead, thereby allowing coach Steve Kerr to go further down the bench.
Cousins in each of the last five games has played between 23 and 25 minutes. He could be in line for a bump into the high 20s.
Spurs: With Aldridge and DeRozan out, coach Gregg Popovich could with Poeltl and Cunningham, who would defend Thompson. Another option is to keep Cunningham, a natural forward, as a reserve while starting Lonnie Walker IV at point guard, with Forbes sliding to shooting guard.
Poeltl is almost certain to start over Pau Gasol.
Watch the triples: Bertans (47.2 percent), Forbes (42.0) and Gay (41.1), Patty Mills (39.7) and Marco Belinelli (39.1) give the Spurs five players shooting over 39 percent from deep.
Fun trivia: The Spurs since 1997 have had a losing record a total of 65 days. The next closest team, Dallas, has had a losing record 988 days.
Officials: Scott Foster (chief), Mark Lindsay, Eric Dalen.
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