San Antonio has now lost 15 of their last 16 contests, and big changes could be on the way.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs (14-41) fell in an early hole and fell to the Toronto Raptors 112-98, making it 10 losses in a row and 15 in their last 16 games.
Josh Richardson is one of the Spurs veterans who could be moved before Thursday’s trade deadline, and he opened the game with a pull-up three.
Keldon Johnson drove for a tough reverse off the window, then drilled a mid-range jumper. Poeltl popped one in, and Malaki Branham found Keldon for another deuce. Johnson got it to Isaiah Roby to make it 17-13 Spurs, but then the Raptors went on a 14-0 run.
Blake Wesley stopped the bleeding with a bucket inside, then a corner three. He then stole a pass and found Roby in transition for a layup. Toronto led 34-24 after one, and Pascal Siakam scored 18 in the first.
Zach Collins hit an elbow jumper to start the second, then knocked down a triple from the top off a feed from Wesley. Collins faced up, spun, pumped, and popped it in to cut it to four, but the Raptors quickly doubled that and forced a timeout by Pop.
Doug McDermott scored on a feed from Collins, then drilled a three off an assist by Wesley, then got fouled on a deep attempt. The next trip he passed it to Keita Bates-Diop for an and-1, making it a two-point game.
KBD hit a floater, then J-Rich grabbed a board and drove for a tough layup to tie it at 45. Stanley Johnson stole an inbound pass and got it to Malaki Branham, who banked in a push shot to put the Spurs in front.
Toronto responded with an 8-0 run. Branham got it to Poeltl for a floater, then Poeltl found KBD for a layup. J-Rich ripped another three, and the Spurs trailed 57-54 at the break.
Toronto pushed their lead to 9 to open the second half. Keldon slowed it down with a few free throws, then Poeltl scored inside on a pair of assists by Richardson. Keldon drilled a deep three, but the Raptors locked in from range and got to the line and pushed their advantage to 17.
Wesley’s fourth assist was a funky, pretty one that went to Roby for a three, then Roby returned the favor for a transition layup.
McDermott knocked down a triple, and San Antonio trailed 88-75 heading to the fourth.
Poeltl fed KBD on a cut for a layup to get the quarter started, then McDermott beat the buzzer for another triple. Keldon drove for a physical layup to cut it to 10, but the Raptors pushed back again. KJ kept attacking the cup and scoring through contact, but San Antonio struggled to close the gap.
Toronto won 112-98, making it 10 losses in a row for the Spurs and 15 in their last 16 games. Keldon led the Spurs with 22 points, scoring 10 of them in the fourth.
GAME REWIND
The Spurs are coming off a 128-104 loss versus the Bulls in Chicago.
Keldon Johnson had 21 points and two assists to lead the team while Malaki Branham added 15 points. Jakob Poeltl finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while Josh Richardson recorded 11 points in the loss.
San Antonio committed 18 turnovers and outscored 38-19 in the fourth period. All five of Chicago’s starters scored in double-digits.
Tre Jones, Romeo Langford, and Jeremy Sochan did not play due to injuries.
“As usual, a collapse down the stretch bolstered due to turnovers tonight,” Gregg Popovich said. “We’re up three [points] with 4:05 to go in the third quarter. Everything is going fine but then the turnovers come in. Third period, half in the fourth, just in that period nine turnovers; end of the game because neither team shot very well as far as threes are concerned.”
INJURY REPORT
LOCKED ON SPURS PREVIEWS SPURS-RAPTORS
THE UNIFORMS
The Spurs will be in their Association Edition jerseys today.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
1. Raptors’ Fred VanVleet has scored 20-plus points in seven of his last 10 games played overall.
2. The Raptors have won four-straight games versus the Spurs.
3. Raptors’ Chris Boucher has scored 10-plus points in three consecutive games while averaging 14.7 points while shooting .633 from the field.
4. The Spurs have recorded fewer blocks than their opponent in seven-straight games.
5. The Spurs are allowing 129.0 opponent points per game through three games in February.
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