The San Antonio Spurs (3-15) played the Atlanta Hawks (9-9) to the very end, but eventually fell by a 137-135 final score.
Thursday’s loss marks the Spurs’ 13th-straight loss, which is tied with the second-most in San Antonio’s franchise history. Despite the disappointing streak, after the game, head coach Gregg Popovich expressed his satisfaction with the team’s effort.
“Their competitiveness was great. Their execution is better all the time,” said Popovich.
San Antonio was led by Jeremy Sochan who finished with 33 points and 8 rebounds, but Sochan wasn’t the only contributor. Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Victor Wembanyama each had 20-plus points while Julian Champagnie added five 3-pointers to help him score a season-high 15 points as he tries to find his form from last season.
“Just keep shooting, practice, be aggressive. Get in the gym, take the shots I know I can make,” said Champagnie after Thursday’s 2-point loss.
On the other side, Atlanta’s Tre Young put up a game-high 45 points which was the difference maker down the stretch in helping the Hawks rally to the win.
The Spurs have a new month on the horizon to turn their season around. San Antonio opens the month of December in New Orleans. The only challenge is the game is the tail end of a home-and-away back-to-back.
San Antonio and New Orleans tip-off on Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Smoothie King Center.
