Warriors Beat Spurs 90-83

March 5, 1998 / 12:00 AM EST / CBS/AP

The distractions were there, and on this night they didn't matter for the Golden State Warriors.

Hours after an arbitrator reinstated the last two years of Latrell Sprewell's contract and reduced his one-year suspension, the Warriors beat San Antonio 90-83 on Wednesday night, snapping a four-game losing streak.

"We all wanted to put this thing behind us tonight," said Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo, who was choked by Sprewell in a Dec. 1 practice, leading to the sanctions against the former All-star guard."We beat the Spurs and that's great."

Carlesimo said while the ruling was disappointing it did resolve some of the uncertainty lingering within the organization.

"I thought our organization made a statement of what they think is acceptable behavior and the league supported that," Carlesimo said."To have that set aside is disappointing."

"At the same time, to get a resolution to this is great. It's good for Spree and that's fine."

Sprewell comes off his suspension July 1. The Warriors must decide whether to keep or trade Sprewell, who had been fired for his attack on Carlesimo.

"They've had a lot of distractions that they've had to go through and his guys wanted this win. It would have been a travesty if they lost this game tonight," San Antonio coach Greg Popovich said.

Jim Jackson led Golden State with 26 points, the most he has scored since joining the Warriors on Feb. 17 as part of the trade that sent Joe Smith to Philadelphia. Donyell Marshall and Erick Dampier had 17 apiece, and Jason Caffey, acquired in a Feb. 19 trade with Chicago, added 14.

"We have a lot of players that have improved and we are playing better as a team," Carlesimo said."If you look at the way we are playing recently, there is reason to feel very good about our trades. We have had a lot of adversity on the court that we have had to deal with and I think our players have done an exceptional job."

Said Marshall:"We're not winning a lot, but the one thing you can count on from this team is we're going to play hard."

Tim Duncan had a career-high 35 points, and David Robinson had 18, but San Antonio could not overcome a season-high 30 turnovers, leading to 31 Warriors points. Ten of the turnovers were by Duncan.

The Spurs are among the teams that may be interested in acquiring Sprewell, who played for Popovich when he was an assistant at Golden State.

Popovich declined to comment, saying to do so now would be tampering since Sprewell will again be under contract to the Warriors.

Robinson meanwhile said he thought Sprewell had been punished enough.

"I think he has paid a heavy price. I would like to see him deal with his anger and get on with his life," Robinson said.

Trailing by seven at halftime, the Wariors pulled to 70-68 when Jackson hit three straight baskets in the last three minutes of the third period and then tied it at 70 on Caffey's 7-foot hook to open the final period. Caffey finished with 14 points.

Robinson's hook shot evened the score again at 76 with 7:23 left but the Spurs managed only one more basket the rest of the night.

After Robinson tied it, the Warriors went on a 6-0 run, going in front 82-76 on Tony Delk's 16-foot jumper with 3:26 remaining. They did not trail the rest of the way.

San Antonio was held to just 27 points in the second half, 10 fewer than they the Spurs scored in the second quarter alone. San Antonio also missed all seven of its 3-point attempts and was only 19 of 31 from the free throw line, including 6-for-17 by Robinson.

Notes: Duncan's previous career high was 34 points Feb. 3 against Golden State. He has scored 30 or more points four times this season. ... Prior to the game, the Warriors announced they have placed guard Bimbo Coles on the injured list with bone spurs in his right foot. ... Marshall started his 57th game of the season for the Warriors, matching the number of starts he made in his three previous seasons. ... Warriors had a season-high 17 steals, including six by Clarence Weatherspoon. ... Robinson and Duncan are the only two players in the NBA to rank in the top 20 in scoring, and top 10 in rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. The two have had double doubles in the same game 23 times.

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