The San Antonio Spurs misplaced a decent contest with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night time regardless of having an opportunity to tie the sport late. They expertise comparable heartbreak on Sunday after they as soon as once more got here up quick in a 117-115 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Spurs had an opportunity to tie the sport with underneath 30 second to go, when Victor Wembanyama caught the ball on the low block. As Jarrett Allen got here from the weak facet, Wembanyama dropped the ball off to a reducing Jeremy Sochan. With the paint clogged up, he made an inaccurate move to Keldon Johnson on the perimeter who couldn’t deal with it. The ball went out of bounds, and the Spurs hopes of profitable have been crushed.
San Antonio was down 16-points within the fourth quarter. They went on an 11-0 run within the final three minute to get the sport inside two factors because of their defensive effort and the play of Wembanyama down the stretch. The rookie completed the sport with a team-high 24 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. The Cavs’ large man, Allen, outplayed Wembanyama for many of the recreation, ending with 29 factors and 16 rebounds (5 of these approaching the offensive finish.)
The Spurs will get just a few days to relaxation earlier than heading to Detroit to tackle the Pistons, which shall be a battle of the 2 worst information within the NBA.
Observations
Offensive rebounds proceed to be the Spurs kryptonite. They gave up 12 of them on Sunday, permitting the Cavaliers to increase possessions and get second likelihood level. Allen dominated inside, particularly when he confronted Dominick Barlow and the remainder of the Spurs smaller second unit. The Spurs misplaced the rebounding battle 44-40 general.
Devin Vassell got here out sizzling, scoring 12 factors within the first quarter. He’s been assertive over the previous couple of video games, attending to his spots and changing at a excessive price. The wing completed the sport with 22 factors on 9-19 capturing and hit 4 of his 9 threes. Earlier than the sport, Gregg Popovich praised Vassell’s aggressiveness in opposition to Milwaukee. Regardless of the Cavaliers keying in on him within the second half, Vassell stayed aggressive hitting some key pictures down the stretch, together with a step by way of mid-range jumper in opposition to Donovan Mitchell.
The Spurs as soon as once more gave up plenty of threes in a loss. The Cavaliers went 16-43 (37.2%) from deep as they lit San Antonio up. The Spurs had a tough time chasing Sam Merrill, Max Strus and Caris LeVert off the road. Merrill particularly gave the Spurs suits, as he completed with 18 factors on 5-9 capturing off the bench.
