Despite missing key players Wembanyama and Vassell, the Spurs faced a narrow defeat against the Trail Blazers.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs lost at home against the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-110. Luke Kornet led the team with 23 points and five blocked shots.
Dylan Harper scored six points, while Keldon Johnson recorded five points and eight rebounds off the bench. Harrison Barnes added 14 points. Stephon Castle had 16 points and nine assists. De’Aaron Fox added 19, and Julian Champagnie finished with 20.
Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell did not play due to injury.
The Spurs are 25-10 and will next visit the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Here’s a sample of what the Spurs and Knicks said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“I thought we missed some really good shots. Thought we turned down even more shots. I don’t know if that was more of a byproduct of us missing the shots or what their defense was doing, but regardless, you can’t turn down shots in this league. When you get a good shot, you got to take it regardless of what’s been going on. If it’s open and rhythm and it’s the right shots for us or the team.”
“Tough to say what the biggest takeaway is, but I think every game has a lot of takeaways. And I think for us, just starting the game with the right approach, importing our energy into the right places.”
“They (Blazers) did a good job of kind of getting extra possessions and pressing the ball and stuff. It was a thumbnail stuff. Obviously, we could have done some stuff better to come out on the better side.”
“They (Blazers) obviously give pressure the ball and then they’ve got some rim protectors and stuff like that and that’s kind of the style that they play. Ultimately, I’m not sure how well or not well it was overall for us. Kind of hard to parse that out.”
“They (Portland) stay home with shooters, especially pick and roll. They have obviously a really good shot blocker (Donovan Clingnan), and he sits back in the paint. They have good on ball defenders, and they try to make you play two on two. They try to make the guard shoot basically every time. So you have to make a conscious effort to obviously continue to move, try to move the ball, because it can get real stagnant the way that they play defense. That’s what they want, and I think they did a pretty good job at it.”
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Caleb Love: