The Spurs‘ shedding streak now stands at 12 after a 132-120 loss in Denver that was extra one-sided than the ultimate rating suggests. After an honest first half, San Antonio merely couldn’t sustain with Nikola Jokic and an aggressive Nuggets offense that attacked the rim relentlessly on their method to a straightforward win.
Issues weren’t wanting so dangerous early on. Victor Wembanyama was the Spurs’ offense to start out the sport, logging the staff’s first seven factors. On the opposite finish, Zach Collins was being bodily with Nikola Jokic inside, which allowed San Antonio to maintain the rating shut. Sadly, the problems with a scarcity of shot creation within the half-court solely reared their head after that Wemby domination stretch and the Silver and Black slowly began to fall behind. The three-ball was falling for the house staff and when Collins took a break, Jokic began to extra aggressively search for his factors. A incredible couple of minutes from Devin Vassell off the bench and the strong play of the second unit that pushed the tempo had been the one causes the Spurs managed to remain inside attain, however being down by solely 4 after the primary interval nonetheless gave followers causes for optimism.
Wemby picked up the place he had left off, scoring the Spurs’ first 5 factors of the second quarter earlier than committing his second foul and heading to the bench. That’s when issues began to go south for San Antonio. After sitting for a couple of minutes whereas DeAndre Jordan held down the fort surprisingly properly, Jokic checked again in. On the identical time, the Silver and Black began to show the ball over an excessive amount of, fueling the Nuggets’ transition offense. Zach Collins bought into foul hassle, and an opponent that was already dominating inside bought a fair larger edge. Jokic went to work and there was nobody who may problem him. It took Wembanyama returning and manning the middle spot for the Spurs to regain their composure. The star rookie instantly made an influence on protection and transition and led the cost for a run that will minimize a lead that at one level reached 20 to only 12 on the break.
The 2 large issues with these younger Spurs are that they merely can’t preserve a excessive stage of play for quite a lot of stretches they usually don’t know the best way to adapt inside a recreation. The third quarter collapse wasn’t shocking, as a result of we’ve seen them occur by way of the yr. A brand new beginning lineup that featured Tre Jones beginning at level guard, as Jeremy Sochan sat the second half with knee soreness, and Julian Champagnie beginning at capturing guard instead of Malaki Branham had a number of good minutes, however the Nuggets rapidly went again to dominating inside with drives and cuts whereas San Antonio’s offense relied on exterior pictures that weren’t falling. The stops had been few and much between and the bench had no shot creation with out Jones. Wembanyama completed the quarter properly, however when the mud had settled the Spurs had been down 23 factors and the sport was basically over.
There’s nothing flawed with shedding to a contender, even one lacking two starters, however the issue with this recreation is that it was just too harking back to previous losses. It’s arduous to really feel just like the Spurs are literally getting higher as a staff, which is a little bit discouraging. Hopefully Sochan is not going to miss time and Vassell will return to the beginning lineup quickly, so the core will get extra time to gel.
Recreation notes
Victor Wembanyama solely performed 25 minutes and he nonetheless had 22 factors, 11 rebounds, six steals and 4 blocks. The Nuggets appeared virtually unaware of how a lot size he has and saved making an attempt to get the ball previous him with some lazy passes that he simply snatched away. Nice recreation on each ends for Wemby.
Jones bought to start out at level guard within the second half. Did the offense look higher? Sure, however a couple of minutes of excellent play are absolutely not going to be sufficient to alter Pop’s thoughts concerning the Level Sochan experiment. Exterior of any debates concerning the starters, hopefully Sochan is not going to miss time, as a result of this staff doesn’t have the depth wanted to make up for all that he brings to the desk.
Keldon Johnson was invisible for many of the recreation. In 26 minutes within the first three quarters, he had three shot makes an attempt, one rebound and two assists. Even on nights during which Victor has it going and Vassell’s shot is falling, the Spurs want Johnson to offer slashing and total vitality and he couldn’t towards the Nuggets.
The perimeter protection was atrocious total, so calling out anybody as the principle perpetrator is senseless. Guys had been gradual to rotate, bought blown by too typically and fell asleep on cuts. Nobody can blame the bigs for not with the ability to decelerate Nikola Jokic, arguably the perfect participant within the league, however even they’d some dangerous moments containing or contesting drives. The struggles on offense get many of the consideration, however there’s a ton of labor to do on the opposite finish as properly.
Branham got here off the bench within the second half whereas Champagnie began in his place presumably in order that Branham may function the backup level guard. He did verify in when Tre Jones sat, in order that appears to have been the concept. However wouldn’t it make extra sense to only use Devonté Graham when the staff wants an additional ball handler? Graham shouldn’t be a part of the long run and he’s extra streaky than regular, however he’s on the books for a yr after this one and he’s clearly a greater creator than Branham. If Sochan does miss time, hopefully Pop will give Graham at the least a couple of minutes.
Play of the sport
This must be one of the enjoyable sequences of the season.
Subsequent recreation: vs. Hawks on Thursday
The Spurs will probably be again in San Antonio to tackle the Hawks after a three-day break. Will Pop seize the mic once more if the followers boo Dejounte Murray?
