Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images The Spurs’ young stars took over down the stretch. With a furious fourth quarter featuring shotmaking and nearly airtight defense, the San Antonio Spurs came back from down 17 points against the West’s top team to rise above .500 (9-8). Injured Spurs: Devin Vassell -knee contusion, Jeremy Sochan- left thumb surgery and Keldon Johnson- right hamstring tightness. The Warriors’ sharp passing, two-man actions, accurate shooting and first grabs on loose balls gave them the edge over the hosts early. Most of the damage was done by Andrew Wiggins and Buddy Hield, combining for 18 of the Warriors’ 29 first-quarter points. The Silver and Black struggled to finish in the paint, making a sparse two of seven shots and converting 16.7 percent from long range. Yet, they raised the defensive intensity about 20° at the end of the first quarter, coming up with a block that sparked transition and picked up a steal. Then the Spurs started the second quarter getting killed by Hield in split action. They found themselves down 16 points. But they retaliated, making three of eight treys and scoring on a backdoor cut to capitalize as Curry was on the bench. After chef Curry checked in, the Spurs were outscored 14-8 to end the half. At intermission, the Spurs were down 50-38. The crew had 12 paint points, seven on the break, four via second chances and 11 from the bench. Harrison Barnes was the only starter to shoot efficiently, making two of three shots. No other starter logged higher than a third of tries. Subsequently, the Spurs finished six of eight shots to start the third quarter on moves from Wemby, Chris Paul and Barnes but there was still double-digit separation on the scoreboard in favor of Golden State. Next, they started the fourth quarter, making three shots in the restricted area and one 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four points. Wembanyama splashed a trey a minute later to cut it to a point, then Stephon Castle took the lead on a dribble move to the paint and with a late 3-pointer. The Spurs won 104-94. They had 42 paint points, 13 in the open court, 12 on second chances and 20 from the bench. Observations: San Antonio’s ball movement was like a freshly forged blade cutting through flesh. The motion created many overreactions. Wembanyama returned after missing three straight outings with a right knee contusion. First, he was guarded by Trayce Jackson-Davis and he was failing to outshoot Stephen Curry in the first quarter, missing three 3-pointers. His shot selection was poor as multiple were unnecessarily deep. Additionally, he made three of nine shots in the first half, burying a jumper over Kevon Looney at the elbow and two catch-and-shoot treys. After intermission, Wembanyama cranked up his game. He converted six baskets from short, medium, and long distances and was a key player down the stretch. On defense, Wembanyama deflected a lob pass, blocked Jackson-Davis at the rim, but was put in multiple screen rolls, getting scored on up close in drop coverage. He also bit on three pump fakes in the first half. In the second half he was a deterrent as a helper in the backline. His top moment of the game was consecutive blocks on Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody on one possession. The Spurs shot miserably from 3-point range in the first half, registering six of 26 attempts. Some were bad ideas because the shot was very deep or there wasn’t enough rhythm, but others were open enough that failed to fall. Same story in the second half, recording seven of 21 threes. Non-Wembanyama minutes: The Spurs were outscored by 11 points when Wembanyama sat. The Spurs have struggled this season taking care of the ball, as they were 22nd in turnover percentage before the game. But that wasn’t the case versus the Warriors. The hosts only lost the ball eight times during the entire game. Castle guarded Curry. He did a fine job of staying on the dribble and locking and trailing in the half-court.