San Antonio— Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points, Klay Thompson 20 and the Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 112-102 on Monday night after a slow start.
San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama returned from a one-game absence with 27 points and 14 rebounds after spraining his right ankle in the first half of Tuesday’s loss in Houston.
Gregg Popovich is unsure if Wembanyama will play against Houston on Tuesday.
Golden State reduced San Antonio to one point in the last 2:43 after Draymond Green fouled out.
“We weren’t doing anything differently, just effort and connection,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. If one guy is out and everyone is working hard, it’s still two points. I thought we were better linked in the second half and gained momentum.”
Golden State rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, including a one-handed dunk over Wembanyama in the last minute that knocked San Antonio’s 7-foot-4 newcomer
Thompson started again with Stephen Curry out with a sprained right ankle. Thompson went 4 for 10 on 3-pointers and 8 for 21 overall.
Golden State (34-30) denied San Antonio a road-and-home sweep by winning nine of its last 10.
When Wembanyama and Devin Vassell returned, the Spurs struggled to maintain a balanced effort after beating the Warriors 126-113 on Saturday.
San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson scored 16 and Vassell 17.
“They made 51% of their 3s last game,” Golden State guard Brandin Podziemski said. Tonight, limiting them to 38% was crucial, but so was displaying what we’re about and not letting anyone beat us.
San Antonio has 27 assists after 34 Saturday.
The Warriors defended better in the second half to prevent Spurs points.
“So, obviously, consistency is always (important), but today I think it’s also responding to their physicality,” Wembanyama added. “Our response was weak.”
The offense was punctuated by Jackson-Davis’ slam.
I saw him overplay it to my right. I’m left-handed, Jackson-Davis added. After spinning or reaching for my left hand, I had to stomp on him. Just tried him. I informed Kevon Looney before the game that I would try him if I could. Sometimes you dunk, sometimes you get dunked. Just a basketball play
Golden State beat San Antonio 32-18 in the third quarter after a 19-0 outburst four minutes into the second half. The Spurs fell behind 86-72 after missing eight shots and committing four turnovers in 4 1/2 minutes.
“They came out and hit us hard in the (start of) third quarter,” Warriors guard Chris Paul said. We had trouble stopping. We were shifting the ball. Then we took a break and settled in. I think we started defending and getting out in transition to be more aggressive.”
Johnson’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the first quarter gave San Antonio a 36-25 advantage. The deficit was manageable as Paul scored eight points in 2:40.
Paul scored 19 points.