San Antonio finishes season with win over Detroit

The shorthanded Spurs show out against the Pistons in game 82.

With not much more to play for than pride, the bottom-dwelling San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons faced off in the last game of the NBA season. With multiple starters missing on both sides, it was the end of the bench and G League two-way players who had a chance to shine on Sunday afternoon. The Spurs young players responded with a resounding 123-95 blowout win to end the season.

After a back and forth first half, the Spurs separated from Detroit with a 34-17 second quarter filled with transition buckets and good ball movement leading to open threes. San Antonio had 33 assists in the win and shot 44.1% from deep on 34 attempts. They dominated the Piston on the break and inside. They outscored them in transition 26-9, out-rebounded them 54-40 and beat them on the interior 64 points to 46. Detroit struggled mightily to find consistent offense, shooting just 39.1% from the field and 24.2% from the field.

San Antonio was led by their veterans before the youngsters took over in the blowout. Zach Collins was everywhere, hitting threes, grabbing boards and making Dirk Nowitzki-style fade aways. He had 17 points and 9 rebounds before leaving the game in the third quarter with an apparent shoulder injury. It’s a rough way to end the season for the veteran big man, and a reminder of the Spurs reasoning for sitting Victor Wembanyama for this game.

Sandro Mamukelashvili continued his hot streak to end the season. He had 18 points and 8 rebounds, hitting 3-6 three-pointers. Mamu was up to his usual tricks, making smart reads and fooling the defense with his fakes. He held his own on the defensive end and spaced the floor from deep. As an unrestricted free agent this summer, Mamu needed this strong finish to the year.

Devonte’ Graham has a partial guarantee of his contract this season. Meaning the Spurs could waive him and only need to pay a portion of his contract. He had something to play for toward the end of the season and boy did he do well. Not only did Graham have the game winner on Friday night, but was red hot from deep on Sunday. The veteran point guard scored 12 points off the bench on four deep shots. He hit them in a variety of ways, including a couple of tough shots off the bounce.

Tre Jones got the crowd fired up in the third quarter with a big steal and slam, his first dunk of the season. Jones was the engine that kept the Spurs running for most of the season with his pestering defense, ability to push the pace in transition and improving jump shot. He finished the year with a 11 point, 6 rebound and 6 assist performance against Detroit.

The young Spurs showed up, too. Sidy Cissoko flew all over the court for thunderous dunks and blocks. He 7 points and 5 assists in the win. David Duke Jr. hit some tough shots with his smooth looking jumper for 15 point night. RaiQuan Gray has a unique, albeit big build and used his body to get him shots inside. Gray finished with 10 points. Blake Wesley had a career high 17 points and added 5 assists and 3 steals for good measure.

The Spurs could have bottomed out to end the season, but instead won three of their last five games. That moved them out of the best odds at the number one pick. San Antonio finished 22-60 (the same record as last season) which is the 5th worst in the NBA. The team was playing to develop rather than improve their draft odds. They played hard through the end and got a few big wins in front of the home crowd to end the season.

“They play hard and they play for each other,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said of his young team’s performance. “It’s a hell of a good group.”

San Antonio faces a summer of difficult decisions. They have the opportunity to have about $20-$25 million in cap space, and potentially 6 roster spots to fill – depending on what they do with players on partially guaranteed deals. They could have two first round picks and two second rounders in a weaker draft class. This season showed they have a star in Wembanyama. Now the process in building a contender around him begins.