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History on the line as Warriors, Spurs face off 1 final time

Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

If everything goes as expected, the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs will meet again in what could be a Western Conference Finals for the ages. But before either can think about getting there, the two history-chasing teams meet one last time in the regular season Sunday night in Texas.

The numbers are gaudy, and one numerical pursuit will come to an end.

If the Warriors win, they'll set a new NBA record for road victories in a season with 34 - and their chase for the overall wins record of 73 would still be alive. If the Spurs win, they can become the only team in NBA history to go 41-0 at home if they can also beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, never one for trivial matters, said Friday the home unbeaten number was "meaningless." Yet regardless of whether Pop chooses to rest any of his key players Sunday, nothing will come easy for Golden State.

The Warriors haven't won a regular-season game in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997, the season before Tim Duncan's Spurs debut. It's the longest active home winning streak by one NBA team over another.

The Warriors lead the season series 2-1, with home teams winning every game.

Date Location Result
1/25/2016 Oracle Arena Warriors win 120-90
3/19/2016 AT&T Center Spurs win 87-79
4/7/2016 Oracle Arena Warriors win 112-101
4/10/2016 AT&T Center ?

In the Spurs home win in March, they became the first team to hold the Warriors under 80 points since February 2014. The 79 the Dubs scored that night remains a season-low.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who could see his team tie the single-season record of 72 wins, set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls - a squad he played for - with a win, is again expected to keep something of a leash on his stars.

Kerr said before Saturday's game in Memphis he would keep his core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green at 35 minutes regardless of the score. That's almost exactly what all three players hit in a hard-fought 100-99 victory over the Grizzlies.

"These games are tricky because you're not sure what you're trying to accomplish," Kerr said afterwards. "You want to get some guys rhythm, some guys rest. This record is out there, it's important to a lot of people, so there's a lot to process."

If NBA observers are fortunate, they just might get seven more of these games to process in late May.

- With files from the The Associated Press

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