Grades: San Antonio Spurs vs. Boston Celtics – Game #32
Tre Jones and the Spurs came up short against the Celtics (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs fell to 5-27 on the season after a 134-101 defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics, who improved to 26-6, were rarely threatened.
For the first half of the first quarter, the Spurs were able to keep things close in the Frost Bank Center. The Celtics closed the first quarter strong to take an eight-point lead by the end of the period. Outside of a short-lived run in the second quarter, San Antonio never really made a game of it.
All in all, there weren’t many positives to take away from the game. Playing without Keldon Johnson (back) and Zach Collins (ankle) didn’t help, however their absences alone weren’t the cause of the loss. The Spurs, as a whole, simply played poorly on both ends of the court.
Stats: Spurs vs. Celtics
Spurs vs. Celtics – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
Wembanyama played really well in the first half. At intermission, he had 15 points in 13 minutes on 6-for-11 shooting from the field, including 3-for-5 on threes. He was being uber aggressive — and it was paying off. He scored on the inside, hit jumpers and was passing well. In the second half, his offense wasn’t nearly as good. However, his defense and rebounding improved in the final two quarters. Overall, Wembanyama wasn’t great but it’s difficult to be anything but happy due to his production level.
Grade: B+
Devin Vassell
Defensively, Vassell failed to make any sort of notable impact. He was mostly going through the motions on that end. That said, Vassell was rock solid on the offensive end. He picked his spots reasonably well and he was efficient. Even heavy pressure by the Celtics didn’t seem to bother him. However, it would have been helpful if Vassell would have handled more of the playmaking duties.
Grade: B
Jeremy Sochan
It was a very disjointed outing for Sochan. Defensively, there were moments of effort but rarely did he ever play a leading role in getting a stop. The Celtics basically got whatever they wanted and Sochan had a front row seat to a lot of it. Offensively, Sochan had flashes of competency but was mostly moving without a plan or making a questionable decision. Sochan has played a lot worse than he did on Sunday … but he was still harmful to San Antonio’s chances of hanging with Boston.
Grade: C-
Malaki Branham
Branham is moving with more explosiveness when attacking the rim. That’s a positive development for his long-term growth. Everything else for Branham against the Celtics was unsightly. Finishing with zero assists as the team’s starting point guard paints an accurate picture of how his playmaking fared. He simply didn’t have the wherewithal to set up his teammates against a quality defensive team. He also shot only 1-for-5 from three-point range. Defensively, Branham was at best a speed bump. At worst, he was a liability.
Grade: D
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie’s challenge as a starter is finding ways to produce when he’s not getting open three-point looks. Consider Sunday a failure of that challenge. Champagnie had a few good passes but that was about it. He was scoreless in 19 minutes and did almost nothing notable on the defensive end.
Grade: D+
Tre Jones
The Celtics were basically not defending Jones when he was outside of the paint. He tried to make them pay by way of three-point shots but that didn’t happen. The backup point guard was 0-for-5 from deep to drop to 23.7% from three-point land on the season. Jones had success driving to the rim but his inability to shoot clogged the paint for others and narrowed passing lanes.
Grade: C-
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Mamukelashvili drilled his first three-point attempt but missed his final four from beyond the arc. The rest of his outing was reasonably successful. He rebounded well and made a positive impact when passing the ball. He kept his mistakes to a minimum and his energy to a maximum. Defensively, though, Mamukelashvili couldn’t do much when the Celtics went at him looking to score the ball.
Grade: B
Blake Wesley
During his rookie campaign, Wesley would routinely try to do way too much. He has matured a great deal in that area … but he might have gone too far in the other direction. Wesley had some high-quality passes and he did a great job of limiting his mistakes but he could have helped out by applying more pressure on the rim — particularly in transition. Defensively, the second year guard wasn’t special but he was above average compared to his teammates.
Grade: B
Doug McDermott
After going 6-for-8 from three-point territory in his last outing, McDermott was 0-for-3 on threes against the Celtics. He had a couple surprisingly good defensive possessions but otherwise McDermott wasn’t moving the needle.
Grade: C-
Cedi Osman
Osman had a strong finish, a three-pointer and a couple heady passes. His defense left a lot to be desired though and there were stretches where he disappeared altogether.
Grade: C
Dominick Barlow
Barlow’s numbers look impressive across the board but he wasn’t as good as the stats suggest. Seemingly due to a lack of explosion, he had a couple of poor finishing attempts in the paint. His rim protection was a negative and his overall mobility was a bit lacking. That said, Barlow hit a three-pointer, did better on the boards and played with an ample amount of confidence. He remains an interesting prospect but hopefully his actual athleticism is better than it looked on Sunday night.
Grade: B-
Sidy Cissoko
Cissoko missed a couple threes in garbage time. There flashes of passing and defense but nothing concrete.
Grade: C+
Devonte’ Graham
In garbage time, Graham was a breath of fresh air in terms of being a point guard who could stretch the court and reliably make the right pass.
Grade: B+
Pop
With no Johnson and with Wembanyama on a minutes restriction, getting a win over the Celtics was probably an impossible task. However, one would hope that the Spurs could have been more competitive. Pop’s rotation wasn’t terrible but more imagination would have, once again, been helpful. The playcalling was mostly fine, though.
Grade: C