Warriors Pose As Heavy Favorites To Send Spurs Further Into Downward Spiral

The San Antonio Spurs will have their work cut out for them when they play host to the visiting Golden State Warriors on Friday, January 13 at the AT&T Center.

Both teams are on identical three-game losing streaks and will be looking to check their respective slides.

However, it appears San Antonio will need more than a home-court advantage to turn the tables on the Dubs.

The Spurs bowed to the Memphis Grizzlies in their last assignment, 129-135.

San Antonio failed to contain Ja Morant, who exploded for 38 points in that encounter.

Regardless, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lauded his players for clawing back from a double-digit deficit and trailed by only three with 2:42 left in the game with the score pegged at 127-130 in favor of the Grizzlies.

"They never quit," Popovich said. "That's a tribute to their character. You can't coach that. I was really proud of them."

The Spurs are averaging 112.5 points per game, 18th in the league. They are also shooting 47.2% from the field.

However, San Antonio needs to do a better job defending the offensive of other teams.

They are allowing the opposition to score 121 points per game and giving up 50.5% field goal shooting, the most points surrendered per game and the highest shooting percentage allowed.

They also hold a defensive rating of 119.2.

On the other end, the Warriors got a huge sigh of relief with Stephen Curry back in harness.

However, his return failed to give the Dubs the advantage, falling to an undermanned Phoenix Suns quintet, 113-125.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr pointed out how they let their guard down despite the Suns missing a lot of players.

"We didn't start competing until it was too late," Kerr stated.

Klay Thompson, also returning, led the way for the Warriors with 29 points and five rebounds, while Curry finished the game with 24 markers and three assists.

The Warriors are averaging 116.7 points per game, the 8th most point scored in a contest. They are also shooting it 47% from the field which is 17th in the league.

Defensively, they are giving up 117.7 points per game, the 26th most points surrendered in a game in the league.

They are also allowing the opposition to shoot 46.8% from the field, the 12 highest shooting percentage in the league right now.

Despite being the visiting team, the Warriors are -8.5 favorites to prevail over the hosting Spurs, who are at +8.5.

The moneyline is -340 for Golden State and +280 for San Antonio.

With game time set for 7:40 PM ET, it will air via ESPN with live streaming available via fuboTV.