Warriors peaking at right time of season

SAN ANTONIO — Late in the first quarter Wednesday night at AT&T Center, with his Warriors down big to the Spurs, Draymond Green turned to a teammate on the bench. A combination of errant layups, missed 50-50 balls and sloppy passes had dug Golden State a 29-7 hole. In that moment, with the Warriors seemingly poised for their third blowout loss to San Antonio this season, Green recognized that a comeback still was possible. With only seven regular-season games left, the Warriors are 3½ games up on the Spurs for the Western Conference’s top seed. Golden State’s nine-game winning streak has been punctuated by a two-game Texas swing in which it convincingly topped teams with the second and third best records in the NBA. Add in the fact that Durant is on target to return before the end of the regular season, and the Warriors are again the prohibitive favorites to win their second NBA title in three years. “All their switching bothered us,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said of his team’s collapse Wednesday. A confluence of factors — namely, Durant’s injury and a brutal eight-city, 13-day stretch of travel — had left Golden State spent both emotionally and physically. In the wake of a 2-5 rut that included the club’s first three-game skid since November 2013, the Warriors’ once-sizable lead over San Antonio for the No. 1 seed had been whittled to half a game. Much to the dismay of ticket-buyers, Kerr sat Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala for the Warriors’ March 11 drubbing in San Antonio. Before their back-to-back games this week in Houston and San Antonio, the Warriors played only seven games in 16 days. Five of those games were at home, and those seven opponents have a combined winning percentage of .465. During their nine-game winning streak, the Warriors have held opponents to 96.4 points on 41.3 percent shooting. Blocks and steals have fueled their transition offense. Since that March 11 loss in San Antonio, Golden State boasts an average point differential of plus-15.9. Curry and Thompson, whose shooting woes crippled the Warriors at times during their travel-heavy gantlet, have returned to their explosive ways. Typically content to facilitate for others and lock down opponents’ best shooters, Andre Iguodala has scored in double digits in five of his past seven games. Even David West, who had 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting Wednesday, is shouldering a heavier offensive load. Having expanded roles now will only make the Warriors’ complementary players better once Durant returns. Unlike last season, when it exerted all its energy each night to chase an NBA-record 73 wins, Golden State is peaking late. With six of their final seven regular-season games at home and Durant poised to return soon, the Warriors are guarding against a repeat of last season’s playoff meltdown. If the Warriors and Spurs tie for first, San Antonio gets the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference because it has won the season series.