Week in Review: Troubles in the clutch spoil Spurs’ first extended road trip
The Spurs had a chance to go 4-0 but instead went 3-1 due to too many last-minute errors.
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 9: Fully healthy for the first time this season, the Spurs were finally able to trot out their preferred starting line-up to promising results, including two home wins over the Hawks and Trail Blazers while riding Victor Wembanyama’s Western Conference Player of the Week performance.
Week 10: 1-3 (16-16, 10th in West)
106-111 loss @ Philadelphia 76ers
Recap: In a game that ended up being more about the referees than anything — Andre Drummond getting ejected for nothing before being brought back, Wemby getting a technical for nothing that was rescinded after the 76ers took the FT, and Joel Embiid (justifiably) ejected, all in the second quarter — the Spurs had their chances to kick off their road trip with a victory, but too many mistakes down the stretch handed the game to Philly.
114-117 loss @ New York Knicks
Recap: Wemby had another magnificent game in his Christmas debut with 42 points (second only to Wilt Chamberlain), 18 rebounds and 4 blocks, but in a back-and-forth game that was tight throughout, Mikal Bridges was nearly able to match him, and the Spurs were once again thwarted by late mistakes while the Knicks made the final run to secure the victory.
96-87 win @ Brooklyn Nets
Recap: If you can’t win pretty, go ugly. The Spurs offense struggled from the outset in Brooklyn, only barely avoiding a single-digit first quarter thanks to a Keldon Johnson half-court heave, but that provided the spark they needed, and they were able to bide their time with their defense until the offense caught back up, earning their first win of their four-game road trip.
110-112 loss @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Recap: If you were to be told the Spurs won three out of four quarters by a total of 18 points, you’d probably think they won the game. But alas, for the second game in a row, they were only saved from a single-digit quarter by a miracle three, and that 12-32 second quarter combined with more mistakes in the final minute cost the Spurs their third game of the road trip, finishing 1-3.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 19 (last week: 16)
OffRtg: 111.4 (19) DefRtg: 112.7 (15) NetRtg: -1.3 (17) Pace: 99.2 (19)
The Spurs went 1-3 on a four-game trip, with all three losses being heartbreakers.
Three takeaways
1. On Monday in Philly, two straight Julian Champagnie turnovers turned a one-point lead into a five-point deficit. And in New York and Minnesota, the Spurs blew a pair of eight-point, fourth-quarter leads. They’ve still been much better after halftime (plus-5.0 points per 100 possessions) than they’ve been before (minus-7.9 per 100) and they still have a better record in clutch games (8-6) than they do otherwise (8-10).
2. The Spurs have now been 16.2 points per 100 possessions better with Chris Paul on the floor (plus-5.3) than they’ve been with him off the floor (minus-10.9). That’s his biggest on-off differential in the last eight seasons since he was tied for the league’s biggest differential (19.4 per 100) in his last season with the Clippers.
3. With Paul and Wembanyama often sitting together, the Spurs are trying to figure out what to do with their bench units. Zach Collins got five straight DNPs, first with Charles Bassey getting minutes as the backup five and then with the Spurs playing small-ball (Harrison Barnes or Jeremy Sochan at the five when Wembanyama sat) for a couple of games. Then, in Minnesota on Sunday, both Collins and Bassey got minutes off the bench. Nothing has worked, in part because Stephon Castle has seemingly hit the rookie wall after a strong start to the season.
The Spurs will have a rest advantage when they host the Clippers on Tuesday, with two days off following that. Then they’re back on the road for five of their next six, with the only exception being the second half of a home-and-home back-to-back (their first two meetings of the season) against the Nuggets.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 15 (last week: 12)
After surging up the NBA power rankings last week and reaching a new season high, the San Antonio Spurs lost three of their four games this past week. San Antonio is back to No. 15, yet this is still a team with a lot of potential heading into the second half of the year.
Victor Wembanyama has been spectacular as of late, and it’s not like this team really suffered any bad loss. The Spurs almost pulled off a Christmas Day win over the Knicks in MSG, and some missed free throws cost them a win in Minnesota. If San Antonio had closed out those games, we would be talking about them as a borderline top 10 team in the league.
Coming up: Tues. 12/31 vs. Los Angeles Clippers; Fri, 1/3 @ Denver Nuggets; Sun. 1/5 vs. Denver Nuggets
Prediction: 2-1 — I’m going risky again, but I like the Spurs in their two home games against two teams who are only slightly above them in the standings. It might be a bit risky betting on the Spurs to beat the Clippers, but there’s something to returning home from a long road trip that can be rejuvenating, and then it’s not hard to see the Spurs splitting an away-home miniseries with the struggling Nuggets.
