Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks – Game #28
Zach Collins and the Spurs notched another loss (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs not only lost their fourth straight game on Saturday night against the Dallas Mavericks, they lost Victor Wembanyama before the game to a sprained ankle. The towering rookie stepped on a ball boy’s foot during warmups and tweaked his already sore right ankle. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound like an injury that will keep Wembanyama out for more than a game or two.
During the basketball contest, the Spurs were doing okay in the first half. Their offense looked lively in the second quarter and the defense was present enough to keep San Antonio within six points at halftime, 72-66.
Sadly, things quickly went south after halftime. The Spurs have struggled in most third quarters this season but Saturday’s third quarter took things to a new low. When the smoke cleared, the Mavs had outscored the Spurs 45-20 in the third to end all the suspense.
Stats: Spurs at Mavericks
Spurs at Mavericks – Final Grades
Devin Vassell
With Victor Wembanyama out and Keldon Johnson coming off the bench, the pressure was on Vassell to carry the first unit offensively. That didn’t happen. Vassell was decent-ish offensively in the first half — but he was forcing the issue a bit too much. In the second half, he was really bad. Vassell missed all six of his shots in the second half and wasn’t playing within the offense. Defensively, he went from bad in the first half to even worse in the second half. Very forgettable game all around for Vassell.
Grade: D-
Jeremy Sochan
With no Wembanyama or Johnson, Sochan got a longer leash on offense and obviously felt less pressure to distribute. The results were positive. Sochan hit a career-high four three-pointers on his way to 23 points in 30 minutes. It still wasn’t a pretty display of basketball but he looked a lot more competent than he had in recent games. Defensively, there wasn’t much to be happy about. He had satisfactory defensive possessions here and there but was largely ineffective.
Grade: B
Zach Collins
It’s difficult to be upset with Collins’ production. He put up numbers across the board: 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 28 minutes. He’s also now 8-for-15 from three-point land in his last three games. Despite those statistics, Collins actually had trouble impacting the game in a positive manner. Defensively, his help was routinely a step slow and he could have done better work on the boards. More physicality on offense would have aided the cause, especially with Wembanyama out.
Grade: B-
Malaki Branham
This was another inconsistent outing for Branham. In the first half, he looked really solid. His perimeter shot looked slick, he was driving to the rim with purpose and I liked his decisions off the bounce. In the second half, Branham did next to nothing. He was 1-for-5 from the floor after halftime and stopped playing anything resembling defense.
Grade: C+
Julian Champagnie
Starting in place of Johnson, Champagnie began the proceedings with a bang. His three-pointer on San Antonio’s first possession ended up, regrettably, being a fluke. He shot only one other time in the first half and didn’t score again until garbage time in the fourth quarter. To be fair to Champagnie, he wasn’t getting many touches. But, clearly, he’ll need to find a way to become more involved if he wishes to remain a starter.
Grade: B-
Keldon Johnson
Squinting beyond the disarray, Johnson off the bench looked intriguing. He was clearly the go-to player with the second unit, as he ended up shooting 16 times in only 23 minutes. While he forced too many three-pointers, I liked his aggression and the fact that he hit the ground running whenever he entered the game. When the Spurs looked decent against the Mavs, it was usually with Johnson doing a lot of the heavy lifting. We’ll see if the coaches continue down this path but it looked somewhat promising.
Grade: B-
Tre Jones
Dallas was defending Jones in a way that forced him to look at the basket. To his credit, he did pretty well scoring the ball, finishing with nine points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field. Jones also tallied four assists in his 18 minutes. Unfortunately for him, he had difficulty on defense, as the Mavs were able to get bigger and more athletic players matched up with him in compromising situations. Jones wasn’t terrible but he also didn’t move the needle in a positive direction.
Grade: C+
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Mamukelashvili had a strong dunk, hit a three-pointer and authored a few heady passes. He also did good work on the boards and played with a lot of energy. Mamukelashvili needs to be more sturdy on the defensive end to make it but he continues to flash an interesting array of skills.
Grade: B
Sidy Cissoko
Cissoko was given some real minutes prior to the game turning into a glorified summer league contest. The good: He was conscientious and physical on the defensive end. He was able to swipe two steals and helped quicken the pace. He rebounded well and didn’t hesitate to shoot when open. The bad: Cissoko’s misses looked off the moment the shots left his hands. The Spurs don’t really have room for another non-shooter in the rotation — so he needs to prove he can knock down an open look. His defensive rotations weren’t technically always correct … but, hey, at least he was trying to do something, right?
Grade: B
Blake Wesley
The brightest spot in this night of gloominess was Wesley’s play. Sure, most of his minutes came in garbage time, but the young guard looked much more under control than we’ve ever seen him. Wesley is finishing at the rim, making the right passes and playing intense pressure defense. It looks like it’s time to give him a legitimate chance.
Grade: B+
Cedi Osman
Like usual, Osman brought electricity. He hit a three, ran the court and kept the ball moving. Defensively, though, he got burned quite a bit during his ten minutes on the court.
Grade: C+
Devonte’ Graham
Graham didn’t do anything other than grab five rebounds in eight minutes. Considering that he’s statistically the worst rebounder on the team, that’s quite an odd night at the office for ol’ Devonte’.
Grade: C
Doug McDermott
Speaking of oddities, McDermott only dented the statsheet by missing a pair of free throws. That’s all the 81% career free throw shooter did during his six minutes on the hardwood. Huh.
Grade: C
Pop
The good: Well, I’ve been asking for Pop to be more imaginative when it comes to the rotation. Bringing Johnson off the bench surely qualifies. Letting Cissoko and Wesley play extra minutes also qualifies. The bad: The Spurs are playing defense like it’s optional. A coach can’t escape blame for consistent third quarter woes. What’s happening at halftime?
Grade: C-