Game 21: Spurs Unable to Advance to NBA Cup Knockout Round After Loss to Suns
(1) What went wrong? (2) Devin Vassell (3) Wemby, Castle, Sochan's return, and lineup observations
Sunday in Sacramento, the San Antonio Spurs set a new franchise record with 23 made 3s and they shot a season best 50% from distance.
Two nights later in Phoenix, with a chance to advance to the knockout round of the NBA Cup, the Spurs were ice cold from three.
The Spurs tied their season low with 8 made threes and they shot a new season low 18% from distance.
The Spurs followed a similar pattern, where they fell behind by double digits early and lost the first and second quarters. In the third, the Spurs went away from threes and tried to get going inside, where they got back into the game, by winning the third by 9 points. When the final quarter arrived, the Spurs went cold again and Phoenix capitalized, by building a lead as large as 17 points.
When all was said and done, the Suns won by 11 points.
“This is tough,” said Chris Paul after the game. “We knew how big this game was for us and for me to come out and shoot the ball the way that I did (1-of-9), I’ve got to be better and lead by example. I think our defense was pretty good tonight, but our offense was not.”
“It always seems like we play better in the second half, so we’ve got to get off to better starts,” said Paul of the Spurs being a very good third quarter team, but consistently struggling in first quarters.
The loss keeps the Spurs in the play-in race out West at 10th.
While the Spurs didn’t move on in the NBA Cup, they were much better this season in group play. They finished 2-2 while being in a tough group that included the Thunder, Lakers, and Suns. Last season, the Spurs went 0-4 in group play.
(1) What went wrong?
Shooting and Scoring - The 18% accuracy the Spurs shot from three was 9% worse than their previous season low of 27%. At one point in the third quarter, the Spurs were shooting just 9% from distance. Aside from Devin Vassell (more below), no one on the team could make a three, even some of their most reliable shooters. Julian Champagnie went 1-of-8, Harrison Barnes 0-of-3, Victor Wembanyama 1-of-9, and on and on. Even inside, the Spurs had trouble shooting efficiently in the paint, where they shot 50%. They matched their season low of 93 points for the third time this season.
Limited free throw attempts - With the Spurs relying heavily on the 3-point line as a big part of their offense, they don’t have many alternatives to generate points. The only two other options are to try to score from 2-point range and to try to get to the free throw line. Stephon Castle (6 free throw attempts) and Jeremy Sochan (8 free throw attempts) did what they could to get to the line, but even at the foul line, the Spurs made just 15 free throws on 75% shooting.
The Spurs actually played a pretty sound defensive game, but they couldn’t overcome the tough shooting night.
“I thought our defensive effort was really good,” said Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson after the game. “We turned the ball over, we missed a lot of shots. Both those things will put pressure on your defense and I thought it held up well. If you would have told me we’d have held the Suns to 104 points, I’d feel pretty good about that.”
“Our defense withstood a lot tonight,” said Coach Johnson of the defense holding up despite the rough night on offense.
(2) Devin Vassell
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