The game between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors also marked the Texan team’s 50th anniversary. To mark the special occasion the Spurs played their game at the Alamodome, with an NBA record of 68,323 fans in attendance beating the previous record of 62,046.
The previous record came when the Chicago Bulls led by NBA legend Michael Jordan visited the Atlanta Hawks at the Georgia Dome on March 23, 1997.
A big occasion
The Alamodome was primarily designed to host American football games. However, the venue served as the Spurs‘ home from its inauguration in 1993 all the way through to 2002 when, ironically, they played the Warriors before moving to the AT&T Arena.
To mark the occasion, several Spurs legends attended the game including the likes of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Becky Hammonand David Robinsonwho took to the court and announced the record as the crowd went wild.
Spurs still suffer heavy defeat
Despite the party atmosphere, the San Antonio Spurs suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Warriors with the team losing by a staggering 31 points, with the final score 113-144.
However, despite the loss Spurs coach Greg Popovich still took a moment to praise the passion on display at the venue.
“The fans had fun even though we were getting our butts kicked,” Popovich said. “They were having a great time so there must have been a lot of beer sales.”
Steve Kerr gave a standing ovation
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was also given a standing ovation with the former Bulls legend winning two championships with the Texan outfit. The now-Warriors coach said he was touched by the video tribute along with the cheers that accompanied it.
“They played a video and introduced me,” Kerr said.
“Receiving an ovation from 68,000 spectators gives you chills. This was a really special night… Feeling like this, I know how lucky I was to be a part of the Spurs.”
Curry jokes about Warriors form
Golden State‘s Stephen Curry also joked about his team’s form alluding to how it took a record attendance for his team to have their best performance away from home this season.
“It only takes 68,000 spectators to achieve our best performance away from home this year,” Curry stated after the game.
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