Week in Review: Spurs get ugly but much-needed win ahead of All-Star Break
They also lost to the defending champs, but that’s to be expected.
Welcome to the Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Week 16: Even though the week featured De’Aaron Fox’s Spurs debut, they still struggled to a 1-3 open to the Rodeo Road Trip, including three straight one-point games: a win over the Hawks after leading by as much as 20 points, an unacceptable loss to a bad, shorthanded Hornets squad, and a hard-fought loss to a physical but struggling Magic team.
Week 17: 1-1 (23-29, 12th in West)
131-121 win @ Washington Wizards
Recap: The Spurs got a much-needed win with a relatively comfortable final margin after three straight one-point games. It wasn’t pretty, and issues like blowing double-digit leads and giving away too many second-chance points still reared their ugly heads, but the Spurs got their act together in the fourth quarter to take down an inferior opponent, which was more than could be said in their previous two games.
103-116 loss @ Boston Celtics
Recap: In a game that was already chalked up as a scheduled loss, the Spurs initially came out as if they felt the same way, getting down by as much as 24 points early. To their credit, they fought back in the second half even managed to cut the deficit to single digits at one point, but it was too much to overcome against the defending champions on their own turf, and their efforts only served to make the final margin a little more respectable.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 21 (last week: 21)
OffRtg: 112.4 (16) DefRtg: 114.1 (19) NetRtg: -1.7 (19) Pace: 100.0 (14)
The Spurs are just three games in the loss column behind the eighth-place Mavs, but they’re just 5-13 since early January.
Three numbers to know
1. The Spurs ranked 14th defensively (111.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) when they were 18-16 and in eighth place in the West. Over their 18 games since they rank 28th on that end of the floor (118.3 allowed per 100).
2. The Spurs lead the league in opponent free throw rate (19.3 attempts per 100 shots from the field). Victor Wembanyama has averaged 1.68 blocks per personal foul, the highest rate for any player with at least 100 total blocks in the 52 seasons that blocks have been counted.
3. Over their five games with De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs have been better in their 110 minutes with both Fox and Chris Paul on the floor (plus-5.5 points per 100 possessions) than they’ve been in 104 total minutes with one on the floor without the other (minus-2.7 per 100).
For the first time in the last 13 years, the Spurs begin their post-break schedule at home, but their two “home” games this week are in Austin, and their game against the Suns on Thursday is the start of their first stretch of five games in seven days.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 22 (last week: 22)
De’Aaron Fox was supposed to improve the San Antonio Spurs. Well, this team has gone 2-3 since his arrival and is seeing its playoff chances slip away. Nothing will get easier for the Spurs coming out of the All-Star break, as matchups with Phoenix and Detroit come before a tough four-game road trip, during which they will see the Rockets and Grizzlies.
Coming up: Thurs. 2/20 vs. Phoenix Suns (Austin); Fri. 2/21 vs. Detroit Pistons (Austin); Sun. 2/23 @ New Orleans Pelicans
Prediction: 2-1 — After some much needed rest from the All-Star break, it will be time to see if some real practice sessions together start paying off for De’Aaron Fox and his new team. It’s far from a daunting schedule, but the Spurs have shown strength of opponent doesn’t matter in recent weeks. They’ll need to change that against two middling teams in the closest thing they’ll have to home games this month, followed by what should be a win in New Orleans. It’s the final stretch of the season, and if the Spurs are going to make a postseason push, they have to start now, especially with a much more daunting schedule coming up next week.
