Spurs, Castle Conquer Curry-Less Warriors 123-85 in Home NBA Cup Debut

The San Antonio Spurs took their league-best 10-game winning streak into their home NBA Cup debut on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors.

Without its longtime leader Stephen Curry, who was sidelined with an oblique injury, Golden State stood little chance in the Frost Bank Center, as San Antonio cruised to a 123-85 victory.

From the opening tip, it was all San Antonio.

The Spurs rallied off to a 18-0 lead to begin the game and led 38-14 after the first quarter.

It would prove to be the knockout blow for Golden State, as while the Warriors were more competitive in the ensuing periods, the Spurs were never in any real danger of blowing the initial advantage.

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Prior to the matchup, the Warriors had revealed a plan to "rough up" Spurs' superstar Victor Wembanyama in attempts to slow him down after an impressive individual stretch during the team's lengthy win streak.

Golden State was able to make good on that goal, with "The Alien" having a surprisingly human outing, at least for his standards, with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

However, the Spurs showed why they are more than just Wembanyama, as the supporting crew stepped in much-needed ways.

None had a bigger performance that Stephon Castle, who has all but locked up the No. 2-role in San Antonio behind Wemby.

The guard dropped 32 points, five rebounds and six assists in just 25 minutes of action on the court.

With Wembanyama drawing all the attention from the short-handed Warriors, San Antonio proved how lethal its lineup is from top to bottom.

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Following the victory inside its home arena, San Antonio extended its winning streak to an astounding 11 games.

The last team to take down the Spurs was the rival Houston Rockets 114-110 in the second game of the season. In an even more impressive feat, San Antonio is unbeaten on the road.

That will be particularly useful in their next matchup, as the Spurs will depart from San Antonio once again on the heels of a four-game road trip to face the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

It is the third time in the winning stretch for San Antonio that the two teams have met, with the Spurs taking both prior meetings, although each game had a much different path to victory.

Nonetheless, the Spurs will go for win number 12 in Salt Lake City after proving firsthand that they are more than capable of winning, and winning big, without Wembanyama having a once-in-a-lifetime performance.