Here’s what Mitch Johnson, Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama had to say after the loss to the Clippers.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 128-116 at home.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Harrison Barnes had 15, and Chris Paul had seven and seven assists.
Devin Vassell recorded 19 and three rebounds, Jeremy Sochan added seven and four assists, and Keldon Johnson had nine and two rebounds. Stephon Castle had 20. Julian Champagnie recorded five points.
Head coach Gregg Popovich was also out due to illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson continues to assume head coaching duties for the game.
The Spurs are 20-24 this season and will face the Bucks on Wednesday night in San Antonio.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“I mean, anytime you get out bounded by that margin (57-30), there’s obviously some possessions left on the table where you needed a few more guys to participate, whether that’s when we were a little bit smaller or Victor’s (Wembanyama) trying to make plays defensively.”
“We got to rebound as a team and try to get in there and help out. Got to look at the film and see, once again, how we can be better down the stretch. I mean, it’s the story of our season. We are in every game, and then we’re not.”
Wembanyama:
“On the way back from our toughest point in the season, and I think we made some efforts tonight to get out of it, so I think we’re on the right way. As much as Losing feels awful, but winning feels so great. So let’s not forget that. It’s easy to forget about winning, but it’s right there. So we’ll get back to it.”
“I feel like we got kind of complacent late in the third quarter, got away from our strategy a little bit. We let (Tyrese) Halliburton get off late in that third, and I feel like that kind of sparked the run for him. In the first game. I feel like we kind of set the tone in the second half, and that’s what started our run, and that’s what we got away from tonight.”
Kawhi Leonard: