The Spurs start the Rodeo Trip with a loss in Memphis.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 128-109 to start the 2025 Rodeo Trip.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Keldon Johnson finished with seven points and two rebounds. Harrison Barnes had four, and Chris Paul had three and eight assists.
Devin Vassell recorded 11 and three rebounds, and Jeremy Sochan added 14 and eight rebounds. Stephon Castle had 21. Julian Champagnie recorded five points.
Head coach Gregg Popovich was also out due to illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson will continue to assume head coaching duties for the game. New Spurs De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin did not play because they have not joined the team yet.
The Spurs are 21-26 this season and will face the Grizzlies on Monday night to start their annual Rodeo Trip.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“When you’re playing a team that’s on a run, especially on the road, sometimes a quick shot may not be a bad shot. But if you miss that shot, you are fanning the fire a little bit. I think that’s something that we are continuing to try to navigate.”
“Our attention to detail on defense, I feel like against them (Grizzlies), has to be heightened a lot more because it’s how much they like to play in transition. But I feel like our turnovers on offense was kind of hurting our defense, a little bit. Our half-court defense… it was pretty solid, but they got out of a lot of transition, buckets, easier buckets that kind of opened the lead up. So if we can help our defense by limiting our turnovers, I think we’ll be all right.”
Taylor Jenkins: