Saturday's showdown at theAT&T Center between the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs was an exercise in Western Conference playoff depth bragging rights, one claimed by the hosts, 107-85.Not hard to do when Patty Mills drops 21 points and finds himself flanked in typical Spurs fashion by four teammates in double digits, allowing San Antonio to at one point drum up a 25-point advantage. It was a cruise control sort of night, with the team shooting 51.9 percent from the floor while dishing 27 assists.Superstars on the hardwood or not, the Warriors hit a season-low point total despite a 36-point outburst fromIan Clark and have now lost five of their last seven and three in a row. Looked at another way, every Spurs starter posted a positive efficiency rating, every Warriors starter a negative.With Saturday the second game of a road back-to-back stretch for the WarriorsFriday's game was a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolveshead coach Steve Kerr decided to rest Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.While Kerr's decision was a preventive action with Kevin Durant already sitting due to injury, the hosts weren't so fortunate. The team announced Kawhi Leonard would miss the contest after being placed in concussion protocol and later announced LaMarcus Aldridge is out indefinitely due to minor heart arrhythmia.As such, one of the most anticipated matchups on the NBA's calendar turned into Matt Barnes-Kevon Looney-Zaza Pachulia-Shaun Livingston-Patrick McCaw against David Lee-Dewayne Dedmon-Patty Mills-Kyle Anderson-Danny Green.Which isn't to say the game didn't entertain, in one way or another. It came down to readjusting expectations, hence ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reporting ticket prices dipped from a low of $173 to under $60.Entertaining, because the two sides still tallied big numbers. Mills added four assists and two boards to his 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The usual suspects were right behind him, with Lee posting 12 points and six rebounds and Pau Gasol going for 10 and seven in those categories, respectively.The Twitterverse, at least, had some fun with the lopsided dud:Ignore the names on the backs of jerseys and it looked like a typical showdown between the teams with the best records in the league, not to mention the teams vying for important playoff headway. After one frame, only one player was hot for the Warriors (Barnes with 10 points), and the Spurs shot 63.6 percent from the floor off 10 assists. The home team made it 54.8 percent and 17 in those categories by halftime, respectively, jumping out to a 64-44 advantage.For Mills, the overall performance was much more than a case of carving out secure rotational headway. With a trip to free agency ahead this offseason, it was a chance to shine on a national stage.Shine he did, setting a personal best after the first half, as noted by Jordan Howenstine of Spurs PR:Mills wasn't the only one benefiting from extra timeDavis Bertans, a deep depth piece averaging 11.5 minutes per game entering Saturday, casually dropped 13 points over 21 minutes on 3-of-5 shooting from deep.The revelations on Golden State's side were more predictable. Clark was the biggest winner in Kerr's committee approach to the backcourt, pouring in the 36 points off the bench on 15-of-21 shooting. Barnes, in his sixth game with the team, did exactly what he was brought on to do, producing when asked with 14 points.On paper, the final tally supports anyone daring enough to claim San Antonio has superior depth (which is dangerous territory when talking about a pair of 50-win teams). Golden State didn't get much from supposed key rotation factors such as Looney, Livingston and McCaw, as the trio combined for a 2-of-27 effort. Remember, all three started Saturday.Golden State gets the rest Kerr desires, next suiting up Tuesday at home against the Philadelphia 76ers. San Antonio will hope to have Leonard back in the lineup for Monday's encounter with the Atlanta Hawks.Both teams, though, presumably have sights on March 29, where they link up again in San Antonio to finish the three-game season series, which San Antonio now leads 2-0. No matter how the finale turns out, the Spurs now clutch a tiebreaker.Postgame ReactionAfter the rout, San Antonio used the depth theme as the main talking point as it sets its eyes on a run for the top seed in the conference.Lee led the charge, according to by Paul Garcia of Project Spurs:Lee's coach, Gregg Popovich, took a more grounded angle:As for the Warriors, Clark stepped up to the plate and provided the most interesting talking pointed, as captured by the San Francisco Chronicle's Connor Letourneau:San Antonio's Gasol closed out with a lesson both teams will agree with, as well as remember for the next meeting, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News: "You have to be ready for whatever is thrown at you. So mentally it wasn't that tough."All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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