Cooper Flagg took the rostrum in San Antonio to handle the media forward of his Closing 4 look with the Duke Blue Devils. He almost beamed as he answered questions on training within the hometown NBA workforce’s facility.
Whereas the percentages aren’t presently within the San Antonio Spurs’ favor to land the heralded high prospect, stranger issues have occurred. Final 12 months the Atlanta Hawks had the tenth finest odds to choose first general, and ended up choosing Zaccharie Risacher on the high of the draft. Video games like Friday evening’s 114-113 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers get them nearer and nearer to bettering their odds to pick Flagg, or one other high prospect this summer time.
With no superstars left wholesome, the Spurs function gamers have been battling it out for months, sustaining a respectful stage of play that saved them simply out of arms attain of a Play-In spot. This workforce has saved combating, regardless of the percentages being stacked towards them. That’s why it made sense when the Spurs took the Jap Convention’s finest workforce all the way down to the wire regardless of trailing by double-digits for almost all of the sport.
It’s arduous to name a loss “excellent,” however this one comes fairly shut. The Spurs acquired strong play from its core gamers. They surged again within the fourth quarter to compete with a possible NBA Finals workforce. In the meantime San Antonio nonetheless has a shot at top-seven odds on the number-one choose within the draft. With simply 5 video games to go and the Play-In simply out of sight, it’s arduous to argue an excessive amount of with Friday evening’s outcome.
Takeaways:
Harrison Barnes ought to be a fixture of Spurs groups in the course of the Victor Wembanyama period. He’s precisely the kind of veteran function participant they’ll want. His capturing, offensive IQ and defensive positioning make him a net-positive on a nightly foundation. He nearly willed the Spurs to victory on Friday with 23 factors together with 4 three-pointers.
You gotta love Chris Paul’s competitiveness even with nothing on the road. He nonetheless has a lot “F-you” to his sport regardless of shedding a few of his athletic pop to age. His scoring surge late within the sport appeared nearly fully fueled by anger. Hopefully the youthful Spurs see that type of ardour and take notes.
The Spurs have slowly been ramping Charles Bassey again up on the finish of this season. He solely logged 3 minutes on Friday however regarded like he’s nonetheless struggling to return from his knee harm. Bassey’s potential is evident together with his mixture of dimension and athleticism, however that knee needs to be wholesome earlier than he can contribute once more. Hopefully a summer time of well being can get him again on monitor.
Devin Vassell has had some moments late within the season which have me enthusiastic about him being the third or fourth choice subsequent 12 months. His capturing is coming round and he’s transferring effectively with out the basketball. He’s develop into extra engaged defensively. Vassell might be a supercharged 3&D wing subsequent to Wembanayama and De’Aaron Fox transferring ahead.
Friday was one other double-digit help evening for Stephon Fortress, who was as soon as once more a rebound away from a triple-double. He had 22 factors, 11 assists and 9 rebounds within the loss. The Rookie of the 12 months award ought to be his quickly sufficient.
