“They pulled together, but it was tough there for a moment,” said coach Mitch Johnson on the Spurs’ home win over the Pelicans.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs beat the Pelicans at home, 121-115. With the win, the Spurs snapped their three-game losing skid.
Victor Wembanyama led the team with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Keldon Johnson finished with eight before exiting the game with a left calf injury. Harrison Barnes had 16 points and three assists, and Chris Paul had six and 10 assists, which vaulted him into the No. 2 spot on the NBA’s All-Time Assist leaderboard.
Jeremy Sochan added seven points, and Stephon Castle scored 22 points and four assists.
San Antonio was without Tre Jones due to injury. Head coach Gregg Popovich was also out due to illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson assumed head coaching duties for the game.
The Spurs are 12-12 in the season and will visit the Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“I always hate when we have more than two days off in the season. I think it messes up your rhythm. It doesn’t seem like there’s a place for it. I cannot think of a better time than right now. It’s just one of those things. Victor, Zach (Collins), Keldon, and obviously, Victor came back, but there’s a character when we had a lot of guys that have been in and out, and they pulled together, but it was tough there for a moment.”
Charles Bassey:
“My mentality is just going through every game knowing I’m going to play regardless if I don’t play or not. Just stay ready at any time, so you never know what’s going to happen. So that’s the mentality, the mentality I take to every game, regardless of where I play or not.”
“It’s been different points in my career. I’m sure I’ve been written off, traded here, traded there to Oklahoma, this, that, and the third, but I want to say a big thank you to my family, my support system, a child, to my grandmother, my whole family, but my grandma. When I got a praying Grandma, I called my grandmother on my way to the game, and she was at church, her and my granddad. So I know you know how blessed I am, how covered I am. Thank God for the family that I have and the support system, because those are the people who pick me up every time I fall.”
Wembanyama:
“It’s the first time for me to see something like such a big milestone (for Chris Paul). It’s already big right now, it’s already big time, but in some years, we’re gonna look back at it and think, oh yeah, I was the 12,000 12,000 whatever assist, you know, and realized it’s going to age like a good wine.”
Dejounte Murray: