SAN ANTONIO — Warriors point guard Shaun Livingston is well-schooled on the ever-evolving nature of the NBA. During his 13 years in the league, he has been on nine teams and watched seven franchises hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy.
Along the way, one of the few constants has been that — regardless of personnel — the Spurs have reached the playoffs. Now, with just three weeks left in the regular season, San Antonio faces the possibility of missing the postseason for the first time since 1997.
However, Livingston has seen Gregg Popovich maximize his roster’s potential for far too long to want Golden State to play the Spurs in the first round. That Kawhi Leonard, who has been limited to nine games this season with a quad injury, is expected to return in time for the playoffs only makes San Antonio a more daunting potential matchup.
“Nobody wants to play the Spurs in the first round,” Livingston said after shoot-around Monday morning at AT&T Center. “Nobody wants to play the Spurs, period. That’s what it is. They’re still the same team. The San Antonio Spurs are still the Spurs. They still play the right way. They’re still capable of beating any team on any given night, regardless of who they throw out there.”
If the regular season ended Monday, the No. 2 seeded Warriors would face the No. 7 seeded Spurs in the first round. It is a tricky proposition given that no team has had more success against Golden State in the Steve Kerr era than San Antonio.
Since Kerr became the Warriors’ head coach in May 2014, the Spurs are the only club to have twice between Golden State twice in the same season. San Antonio was well on its way to a Game 1 victory over the Warriors in last May’s Western Conference finals before Leonard sustained a series-ending left ankle sprain, paving the way for a Golden State sweep.
It doesn’t help that San Antonio has long been home to one of the league’s toughest road environments. As the only major professional franchise in town, the Spurs — winners of five NBA titles since 1999 — hold singular sway over the metro area’s 2.3 million residents. San Antonians’ collective mood shifts with every win, loss, draft pick or trade. Annual contention is the constant.
More than any other franchise, Golden State recognizes the challenges that come with playing at AT&T Center. The Warriors are 3-25 (.107) there since the Spurs made it their home arena at the start of the 2002-03 season. That is the worst winning percentage any team has in any road venue in NBA history with at least 20 games played.
Before Golden State’s 92-86 win at San Antonio on April 10, 2016, it had lost 33 straight road games to the Spurs dating to 1997 — the first nine of which were at the Alamodome . The only road losing streak against a single NBA opponent that is longer came when the Sacramento Kings dropped 43 road games to the Lakers from March 1975 to January 1992.
Most of Golden State’s struggles in San Antonio, of course, were when the two franchises sat on opposite ends of the NBA hierarchy. But even as the Spurs toil through an uncharacteristically down year, the Warriors recognize the challenges of beating a Popovich-coached team.
Making matters even more difficult is the fact that Leonard, long a Golden State nemesis, figures to be well-rested for the playoffs. Though the Warriors are trying to play deep into June for the fourth straight year, Leonard hasn’t entered a game since Jan. 13.
“The Spurs have the experience,” Kerr said. “If they’re fully healthy, they’re obviously as good as anybody.”
Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @Con_Chron