OAKLAND, Calif. -- Round 1 goes to the champs.

Rest assured, though, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted, the outcome was no knockout.

"It won't mean anything if we meet San Antonio in the playoffs," Kerr said after point guard Stephen Curry's 37 points led the Warriors to a 120-90 shellacking of the Spurs in the season's first head-to-head between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

"They've seen everything," Kerr continued. "They're not going to be fazed by it."

Curry, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, bombed in six 3-pointers as the Warriors (41-4) shot 11-for-26 from beyond the arc in the highly anticipated matchup.

It didn't play out exactly how Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had envisioned for his club, which arrived in Oakland riding a 13-game winning streak.

"I'm just glad my general manager wasn't in the locker room," he said, "because it might have gotten me fired."

The clubs will meet three more times in the regular season, including twice in San Antonio, where Golden State has lost 32 consecutive regular-season games.

For now, the Warriors' 39th consecutive home victory -- their 21st this season -- gave them a three-game lead over San Antonio (38-7) in their duel for top seeding in the Western playoffs.

"I liked pretty much everything about tonight," said Kerr, whose team shot 51.8 percent from the field against the league's No. 1 defense. "But it's not going to be the case next time we see them."

The Spurs averaged an 18-point margin of victory during their winning streak. On Monday, they played without star power forward Tim Duncan, who was resting an ailing right knee.

One man's absence wasn't a factor, according to Popovich.

"It was like men and boys out there tonight," the San Antonio coach said. "They deserve a lot of credit. Their coaches have them right where they want them, really executing well."

Curry, who hit 12 of 20 shots overall, also had three assists and five steals in 29 minutes for the Warriors, whose last home loss (Nov. 11, 2014) came at the hands of the Spurs.

In fact, San Antonio prevailed in 23 of its previous 26 visits to Oakland before falling behind by seven in the fifth minute Monday and by as many as 19 in the second quarter.

"There was nothing easy about it," Curry said. "Obviously, the score was in our favor, but we had to work for everything."

Curry set the tone early, connecting on three 3-pointers in a 15-point first period during which the Spurs fell behind despite playing their most competitive ball of the night.

Then when Warriors backup guard Shaun Livingston got into the act with five consecutive hoops in the second period, including dunks off assists from Curry, power forward Draymond Green and fellow reserve Andre Iguodala, the game got away from the Spurs for good.

The Warriors had 21 assists on 24 baskets in the first half, 31 on 44 in all.

Meanwhile, the Spurs were stalled by 26 turnovers.

"We got the game to our pace early," Kerr said. "I thought it was our defensive pressure that set the pace. Twenty-six turnovers ... They probably aren't going to play that poorly ever again against us."

Curry crushed the Spurs with three more 3-pointers in the third quarter, during which the Warriors ran up a 95-66 lead to set the stage for an inconsequential final 12 minutes.

Curry added 18 points to his total in the third while nearly outscoring San Antonio (19) singlehandedly.

Livingston totaled 13 points for the Warriors, who won their fourth straight game. Fellow backups Brandon Rush (13) and Marreese Speights (12) also scored in double figures.

Green had 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in 27 minutes, and shooting guard Klay Thompson was a sixth Warrior in double figures with 11 points.

Small forward Kawhi Leonard hit all seven of his free throws in a 16-point outing for the Spurs, whose six previous losses came by a total of 33 points.

Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge was held to a season-low five points, and San Antonio's starting backcourt offered little support. Tony Parker (five points) and Danny Green (three) shot a combined 3-for-10 while being outscored 45-8 by Warriors counterparts Curry and Thompson.

"At this point, they are better than us," Spurs veteran guard Manu Ginobili said. "I'm not embarrassed to face it."

NOTES: The margin of defeat was the biggest for the Spurs since a 137-97 drubbing at Portland on Feb. 21, 2012. ... The Warriors had more points through three quarters (95) than the Spurs' full-game defensive average (89.8) entering the game. ... Asked to describe his anxiety level before the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted, "I've got butterflies in my gut. I don't feel like that every night." ... The matchup of 40-4 and 38-6 clubs had the highest combined winning percentage (.886) in NBA history for a showdown at least 40 games into the season. The previous mark of .871 was set on Jan. 9, 1972, when the Milwaukee Bucks (35-8) ended the 33-game winning streak of the Los Angeles Lakers (39-3).