SAN ANTONIO -- Boris Diaw shrugged his shoulders nine times, more than sufficient enough to answer the question as to whether the San Antonio Spurs harbor any more desire to remain perfect at home on the heels of Golden State’s first home defeat, Friday to the Boston Celtics.
“Not really, we approach all the games the same way no matter what the other team is doing,” Diaw said. “Two more games at home [after Saturday's visit from the Toronto Raptors]; just want to play as hard as we can.”
The Spurs captured their 38th consecutive home victory Wednesday night with a 100-92 triumph over the New Orleans Pelicans, which set a record for the longest home win streak to start a season in NBA history; the mark was previously held by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Dating to last season, the Spurs own a regular-season home winning streak of 47 games, a mark seven games shy of the 54-game Golden State run that ended Friday.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shrugged off the notion of the Warriors’ loss Friday affecting his team’s plans.
“It’s got nothing to do with what we do,” Popovich said.
It shouldn’t. With six games remaining in the regular season after Saturday's home clash with Toronto, including home contests with Golden State and Oklahoma City, the health of the roster remains crucially important to the Spurs, as does maintaining conditioning and rhythm headed into the postseason.
While the Spurs traditionally rest players sporadically throughout the season, the team has kicked the practice into high gear as the playoffs approach. Popovich admitted recently there’s a fine balance to strike between resting key players and making sure they’re at their best once the postseason starts.
But he’s got plenty of experience at handling such a balancing act and five NBA titles to show for it.
The Spurs reported no injuries headed into Saturday's game against Toronto, and Popovich said the entire roster will be available.
“I didn’t find out about the [Golden State loss] until I walked in this morning,” reserve point guard Patty Mills said Saturday during a shootaround at the team practice facility. “It doesn’t change anything, to be honest, about how we go about things. We’ve got Toronto tonight. We’re trying to improve us as a team and get ready for the playoffs. That’s the No. 1 thing.”