Game 40: Spurs unable to slow down Grizzlies in largest loss of season

(1) The Spurs' defense struggled again (2) Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell finished with 20-point nights (3) More player observations

Photo credit: Reginald Thomas II, Spurs.com

Entering the Game

The San Antonio Spurs were favored by 1.5 points and without Jeremy Sochan. The Memphis Grizzlies were without Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, GG Jackson, and Vince Williams Jr.

This is the Story of a Game

Let’s just go straight to where this game got away from the Spurs, which was late in the third quarter. With 3:34 left in the quarter, both teams were tied at 86. The Grizzlies would end the quarter on a 16-0 run, and during that run, the Spurs never called timeout.

Why wasn’t a timeout called? “I didn’t have one,” said Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson after the game.

In the fourth, the Grizzlies quickly pushed their lead over 20 points, and after trading baskets for a few minutes, Coach Johnson waved the white flag, pulling the Spurs’ starters with 3:40 left and the team down by 23 points. Memphis would push the lead to as much as 31 in those final minutes, making that the Spurs’ largest deficit this season. The Spurs eventually lost by 28, recording their largest loss of the season.

“Give them a lot of credit,” said Coach Johnson. “They are one of the top teams in the league in terms of having a real identity and playing to that identity. And when a team, in general, gets away from how they play or their identity, they are very very disciplined and consistent in that regard. It does not go with the score, the results of a play, the reffing, who’s in. They’re very clear on who they are as a team and it shows, and they get a lot of credit for that.”

“It’s discipline, then you have to fight that with some relentlessness back,” said Coach Johnson of the Spurs falling into the Grizzlies’ trap of playing fast. “But it needs to be discipline again, unless you play that style. We want to play fast, but not in the same quite light as they do if that makes sense.”

“I felt like we were settling a little too much,” said Stephon Castle of the Grizzlies’ 16-0 run to end the third quarter. “I think we were in the bonus with like eight minutes left in that quarter, so I felt like we should have attacked a lot more, tried to get some easier buckets, knowing that they couldn’t really foul us. Especially with that much time on the clock. I just felt like we were settling a lot and they were getting out in transition and playing how they like to play.”

After the Loss

In the tough Western Conference, where having a .500 record is probably going to be a requirement to be fighting for a play-in spot, the Spurs are now 2-games below .500 (19-21) for the first time since November 16. They’re still 12th out West, but now a whole game behind the Phoenix Suns (10th) and Golden State Warriors (9th), who are both .500. The loss drops the Spurs’ home record to 12-10, they’re 16-16 against the Western Conference, and they’re now 0-2 against Memphis. The last two games of their season series will be in Memphis.

When down by 15 points, the Spurs are now 4-15 this season. That’s in almost half their games (48%) this season.

Up Next

The Spurs will have Saturday off, but they’ll have to travel to Miami for a road game against the Heat (20-20) Sunday, before departing for Paris, France next week.

Shot Location Scoring, Spurs Box Score, and The Math Game

Here are the three items in this postgame edition:

• (1) The Spurs’ defense struggled again

• (2) Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell finished with 20-point nights

• (3) More player observations

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(1) The Spurs’ defense struggled again

The Spurs’ best defensive quarter in the game was the opening quarter, where Memphis scored 27 points. From there, they couldn’t figure out how to stop the Grizzlies’ offense. Memphis scored 35 in the second, 40 in the third, and 38 in fourth quarter to score 140 total points.

Three Grizzlies players scored over 20 points in Santi Aldama, Jaylen Wells, and Desmond Bane. Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 19 points, Luke Kennard started in place of Morant and he scored 17 points, and Brandon Clarke added 12 points off the bench.

Memphis shot efficiently all over the floor except the corners, as shown in their shot chart.