With only a week till the All-Star break, the San Antonio Spurs traveled to Brooklyn on the third recreation of their rodeo street journey. In consecutive losses to the Miami Warmth and Orlando Magic, the Silver and Black seemed to be hitting a wall. That pattern continued in opposition to the Nets, because the Spurs have been blown out 123-103.
It was a troublesome offensive night time for San Antonio. They couldn’t discover a rhythm all recreation, struggling to get to the basket, or discover Victor Wembanyama on the low block. Brooklyn was bodily with the rookie all recreation, making each catch, post-up and drive troublesome. The Spurs weren’t capable of finding a lot of an offensive movement once they weren’t capable of get their star the ball.
The led to a different night time the place they shot beneath 40% from the sector, hitting simply 36 of their 91 makes an attempt. They shot 32.4% from deep, and would have shot worse if it weren’t for a scorching stretch from Wembanyama. They have been outscored within the paint 58 to 44 and turned the ball over 14 occasions.
Regardless of the robust protection from Brooklyn, Wembanyama was capable of break via for some attractiveness. He had a number of good publish strikes in opposition to Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith, and hit clean jumpers excessive of Ben Simmons. The rookie completed the sport with 21 factors and 4 rebounds.
Brooklyn was red-hot from three-point vary, crushing any Spurs run with a barrage of deep balls. They hit 17 threes at a 50% clip. The Nets shot 56.3% from deep general. Cam Thomas led the best way for Brooklyn, scoring 25 factors together with 5 three-pointers. Claxton and Dennis Schroeder each posted double-doubles, with the massive man placing up 20 factors and 11 rebounds, whereas the guard had 15 factors and 12 assists.
The Spurs received some stable performances from their bench unit. Keldon Johnson was capable of get downhill in opposition to the Nets wings, scoring 19 factors on 7-14 taking pictures. Blake Wesley supplied his standard jolt of vitality with 6 factors and a pair of steals. The second-year guard additionally had one of many Spurs greatest dunks of the sport.
San Antonio will cross the northern border for a recreation with the Toronto Raptors on Monday. It’s a recreation that may possible have some lottery implications for the Spurs, who personal the Raptors first-round decide if it falls out of the top-6.
Recreation Notes:
Gregg Popovich benched Zach Collins within the first half and went to Dominick Barlow for the remainder of the sport. He informed reporters after the sport: “He (Barlow) was very energetic and we wish to reward issues like that.” Barlow had 7 factors and 9 rebounds in his 12 minutes. Collins struggled to make an impression in simply 7 minutes, scoring 2 factors and going 0-2 from the sector with 3 fouls.
The Spurs struggles from the three-point line have been well-documented. They’re the worst three-point taking pictures group within the NBA. That lack of spacing has broken their offensive recreation, making it robust to seek out driving lanes. Jeremy Sochan’s as soon as respectable soar shot has regressed to the imply, as he’s right down to 34% taking pictures from deep on the yr. Julian Champagnie has been streaky all season. Even one in all their premier shooters, Devin Vassell is simply taking pictures 36.4% from deep. With out Doug McDermott, they’ll want a dependable shooter or two to step up.
It regarded private for Claxton in opposition to Wembanyama on Saturday. The massive man went proper on the rookie, placing the ball via him on a number of possessions. That is what Wemby can anticipate on most night time. The hype round him means different bigs are going to focus on him. Because the fatigue of a protracted NBA season units in, he may need a number of nights like this sooner or later.
