SAN ANTONIO — — Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points, Klay Thompson added 20 and the Golden State Warriors overcame a slow start to beat the San Antonio Spurs 112-102 on Monday night.
San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama had 27 points and 14 rebounds in his return from a game absence after spraining his right ankle in the first half of Tuesday’s loss at Houston.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he didn’t know if Wembanyama would play against Houston on Tuesday.
Golden State held San Antonio to one point in the final 2:43, immediately after Draymond Green fouled.
“We weren’t doing anything different, just effort and connection,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “If one guy is out of place and everyone is trying hard, it still gives two points. I just felt we connected better in the second half and as it went on we gained a little momentum.
Golden State rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis added 13 points and 10 rebounds, including a one-handed dunk over Wembanyama in the final minute that dropped the 7-foot-4 San Antonio rookie to the court.
With Stephen Curry still out due to a sprained right ankle, Thompson returned to the starting lineup. Thompson was 8 of 21 from the field, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
Golden State (34-30) has won nine of its last 10 road games and held San Antonio from a road and home sweep.
After beating the Warriors 126-113 on Saturday without Wembanyama and Devin Vassell, the Spurs couldn’t maintain a balanced effort with their two leading scorers returning.
Vassell had 17 points and Keldon Johnson added 16 for San Antonio.
“They made 51 percent of their 3s last game,” Golden State guard Brandin Podziemski said. “Tonight, keeping them at 38% was definitely a big key for us, but also just showing what we do and not letting anyone bother us.”
San Antonio had 27 assists after recording 34 on Saturday.
The Warriors limited the Spurs’ scoring opportunities in the second half with greater defensive intensity.
“So obviously consistency is always (important), but today I think it also responds to the physicality that they put on,” Wembanyama said. “We didn’t get a strong enough response.”
The punctuation came on the offensive side with Jackson-Davis’ dunk.
“I saw that he overplayed it, and he overplayed it to my right. Obviously I’m left-handed,” Jackson-Davis said. “So I think I turned or got to my left hand and then had to step on it. I just tried it. I told (Kevon Looney) before the game that if I had the chance to try it, I would. At the end of the day, sometimes you dunk on people, sometimes you get dunked. It’s just a basketball game.
Golden State outscored San Antonio 32-18 in the third quarter, fueled by a 19-0 run that began four minutes into the second half. The Spurs missed eight shots and committed four turnovers over the course of 4 1/2 minutes, falling behind 86-72.
“They came out and hit us hard at (the start of the) third quarter,” Warriors guard Chris Paul said. “We couldn’t really stop. We were turning the ball over a bit. Then we called a time out and settled down. I think we just started defending and getting out in transition and trying to be a little more aggressive.
San Antonio had built a 36-25 lead on a three-pointer from Johnson with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. Paul scored eight points in the final 2:40 to keep the lead at a manageable level.
Paul finished with 19 points.
FOLLOWING
Warriors: At Dallas on Wednesday night.
Spurs: Host Houston Tuesday night.
