Here’s what Mitch Johnson, Harrison Barnes, and Keldon Johnson had to say following the Spurs’ home loss to the Mavericks.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Dallas Mavericks 133-129 at home.
De’Aaron Fox scored 14 points and four rebounds, Keldon Johnson scored 28 points, and Chris Paul had six points and nine assists.
Devin Vassell added 24 points and four rebounds. Stephon Castle finished with 14, and Harrison Barnes recorded 29.
Victor Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the season due to deep vein thrombosis, and Jeremy Sochan and Charles Bassey did not play due to injuries.
The Spurs are 26-37 this season and will take on the Mavericks Wednesday night in San Antonio.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“I thought that the effort and intention was there for the most part. I thought sometimes we got a little outside of ourselves in terms of some inappropriate fouls early on, and then even in the third quarter, there a little bit some of the straight line drives and playing with tactic defense was not up to par, and that allowed them to get in the paint, draw some fouls, offensive rebounds, they were just putting immense pressure on the paint.”
“You kind of get to the game of just trading baskets, and unfortunately, that was unsustainable for us tonight. So I think defensively, like I said, we have to be better and just be mindful when it’s kind of just going back and forth like that.”
Keldon Johnson:
“I feel initially we showed great presence on defense, but as they (Dallas) moved the ball, I feel they were a little bit a step ahead. I thought we scored the ball enough to win the NBA game, but I feel defensively, we got to be locked in all together.”
Spencer Dinwiddie
“It’s just about banding together, a little bit of mental toughness. We’re all grown in here. We understand the predicament we’re in. We’ve got to make the best of it.”