Coming off a win versus the Memphis Grizzlies, the Spurs seemed to shut out their homestand with a victory in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks. After falling behind 34-28 on the finish of the primary quarter, the Spurs began hitting on all cylinders and outscored the Hawks 46-26 within the second quarter, main by as many as 19 factors. What might’ve been easy crusing within the third on grew to become fraught because the Spurs allowed the Hawks to outscore the silver and black 32-21. After the Hawks took a one-point lead within the fourth, the Spurs the executed a defense-led 10-0 run and didn’t look again. Because of a group scoring efficiency, together with 53 bench factors, 17 threes, and an unsung hero from the DR, the Spurs closed out the Hawks 135-126.
De’Aaron Fox continues to guide this Spurs group with out Victor Wembanyama, dropping an environment friendly 26 factors (9-16 FG), 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and three steals. Bear in mind when the nationwide dialog round De’Aaron Fox was to commerce him? In his final 4 video games, De’Aaron has averaged 26 factors per sport, 8.3 assists per sport, three rebounds per sport, and a couple of.3 steals per sport. At this present tempo, it doesn’t seem that the speedy Fox is slowing down any time quickly.
Foz’s offensive menace was on full show: He has so many strikes in his bag of tips that the Hawks’ protection is shell-shocked!
Keldon Johnson dropped a season-high 25 factors (9-12 FG, 3-5 3PT), seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal off the bench. KJ checked within the sport and instantly caught hearth. He was getting buckets from the three-point line, within the paint, and acquired to the free-throw line. He scored 14 of his 25 factors within the second quarter. KJ has been a spark plug for the Spurs offense this season, however this sport particularly might start to place him in potential sixth Man of the Yr conversations.
AND-ONE! De’Aaron fakes the three and finds an open Keldon underneath the basket, who then makes use of his endurance to get the and-one bucket!
Julian Champagnie dropped 20 factors (7-13 FG, 5-10 3PT), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and a block. Julian is now taking pictures 39% from three-point land, and has been a constant shooter for a Spurs squad that likes to unfold the ball. Nevertheless, despite the fact that he’s largely generally known as a shooter, Julian made some key performs within the paint, together with a play that he’s been looking for his total profession.
4-POINT PLAY! Julian knocks down the nook three whereas being fouled by Dyson Daniels!
THE PLAY. Julian FINALLY will get his ferocious slam by throwing down the hammer within the lane! Jalen Johnson wished no a part of the poster.
Harrison Barnes dropped 16 factors, 5 rebounds, and two assists. Regardless that it was not essentially the most environment friendly sport from HB, he nonetheless discovered methods to make performs by attending to the free-throw line and pulling down all 4 of his free throws. The savvy veteran made non-flashy performs that acquired the job finished. Similar to how he’s performed most of his profession.
Too open! After Fox intercepts the go, the Spurs discover a wide-open HB within the nook for three-ball!
Milestone achieved. A lot congrats to HB on scoring his 14,000th profession level within the sport!
Devin Vassell dropped 15 factors (6-11 FG, 3-5 3PT), 5 rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block. This was a bounce-back sport for Dev by way of effectivity. He stepped up and hit well timed threes to both cement a Spurs run or hold them afloat throughout a Hawks run. His protection continues to be essentially the most underrated a part of his sport. Till Stephon Fortress returns, Dev will keep at his pure place of taking pictures guard.
David Jones Garcia broke out and dropped 12 factors (5-7 FG), six assists, 5 rebounds, three steals, and a block. In simply 19 minutes, DJG reminded Spurs followers and launched himself to informal followers by wanting like his summer season league star self. He completely stuffed the backup level guard position by dropping dimes left and proper. He additionally confirmed off the a number of methods he can rating by scoring powerful buckets within the paint and draining stepback threes. When it comes to vitality, his play within the fourth quarter sparked the 10-0 run that gave the Spurs the lead once more. He pickpocketed each Daniels and Johnson, and each performs ended up as Spurs buckets on the opposite finish. Till Dylan Harper and Fortress come again, DJG ought to be the backup PG.
Oh, look, a dime! On the fastbreak, DJG finds a chopping Luke Kornet who finishes with endurance and ease underneath the rim!
Full-court dime! After locking up former UTSA legend Keaton Wallace, DJG grabs the board and instantly throws a dime to Champagnie, who’s streaking down the court docket, and it lands completely in his arms for the deuce!
All in all, this was an excellent victory that confirmed off the potential of this group to get out and run you off the court docket, however nonetheless discover methods to regroup after blowing massive leads. The Spurs group of final 12 months wouldn’t win most video games like this. This squad could be very deep (53 bench factors), so think about when a number of the foremost solid return from damage! The group is now 3-0 with out Wemby, and so they have a four-game highway journey forward. As talked about earlier than, Fortress and Harper ought to return sooner moderately than later. Go Spurs Go!
Lastly, listed here are the complete sport highlights.
The Spurs journey to Phoenix to tackle the Suns this Sunday at 7:00 P.M. (CST) on FDSN-SW.
