Grades: San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies – Game #70
Devin Vassell and the Spurs came up short (Photo via Twitter)
A healthy San Antonio Spurs squad took on an injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies team on Friday night at the Frost Bank Center. Unfortunately, the Spurs managed to lose the game by a final score of 99-97.
Early on, it appeared as if San Antonio was going to coast to victory. The Spurs led by as many as 17 points. However, instead of taking advantage of the situation, the good guys took their foot off the gas. By halftime, the Grizzlies had erased the deficit.
The third quarter was a back and forth affair. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs crumbled on both sides of the court and found themselves in an eight-point hole with less than two minutes remaining. San Antonio finally woke up at that point and rattled off a 12-4 run to tie the game. But a Jaren Jackson Jr. jumper with a second remaining ended up being the difference.
In a game that the Spurs were trying to win, they can’t be happy with the way they played as a team. It was not a pleasant sight to behold, to put it kindly.
Stats: Spurs vs. Grizzlies
Spurs vs. Grizzlies – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
Production-wise, Wembanyama was really impactful. In 33 minutes, he had 31 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. He hit 8-of-12 two-pointers, gave great effort on both ends of the court and did what he could to will his team to victory. Offensively, he ran the court hard. Defensively, he got better and better as the game progressed. Truth be told, though, Wembanyama struggled in a few areas. Most notably, he settled for too many three-pointers and was only 3-for-12 from deep. Additionally, he turned the ball over seven times and had a couple egregious errors. But all in all, Wembanyama definitely did enough for the Spurs to win the game.
Grade: A-
Devin Vassell
Vassell wasn’t perfect but, like Wemanyama, he played at a high enough level for San Antonio to win the game. He scored an efficient 27 points, he routinely made plays for himself and others when he had the ball, and his decision-making as a whole was impressive. The main flaw for Vassell tonight was his defense. He could usually be found a step behind the action and could have been a lot more physical.
Grade: B+
Jeremy Sochan
The good: Sochan rebounded well, particularly early. He made plays on defense — including a late steal that led to the Spurs tying the game. Passing-wise, Sochan was a little bit better than usual. The bad: Sochan’s three-point attempts looked even more disjointed than usual. The Grizzlies weren’t guarding him and he spun up globes that didn’t have a chance. Within the arc, Sochan wasn’t much better. Defensively, while he was making plays, his fundamentals were missing on far too many possessions.
Grade: D+
Tre Jones
Outside of Wembanyama and Vassell, Jones was clearly the next best player for the Spurs. He hit an important three-pointer late and was aggressive enough on offense to force Memphis to keep tabs on him. He also nabbed a vital steal when the Spurs were desperate. Rebounding-wise, this was Jones’ best game of the season. He was legitimately fighting amongst the trees for about a dozen boards — and was able to secure more than his share. Jones’ playmaking could have been more reliable. He had a few uncharacteristically sloppy plays. His individual defense also was hit or miss.
Grade: B+
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie didn’t do much on the offensive end during his 17 minutes on the court. He could have moved better without the ball and could have ran harder in transition. Being too invisible has been an reoccurring issue with Champagnie this season. Defensively, he was good against the Grizzlies. He was active, made plays and was rarely out of position.
Grade: C+
Keldon Johnson
The good: Johnson got to the line for six free throw attempts, he rebounded well and didn’t have a turnover in 29 minutes of play. He played with an ample amount of enthusiasm. The bad: Johnson didn’t shoot straight, missed too many open passes and made a lot of mistakes defensively. Specifically, his mental miscues on defense were plentiful. Overall: Johnson didn’t play a clean brand of basketball and deserves some of the blame for the loss.
Grade: C-
Malaki Branham
Branham has had some really bad games recently. I wouldn’t classify tonight’s performance as really bad — but it was far from good. He missed three more three-pointers and had moments of hesitation on both ends of the court. The Spurs could have really, really used a burst of scoring from Branham but that didn’t happen. Instead, he once again lacked confidence and provided minimal impact on both ends.
Grade: C-
Cedi Osman
Osman got 17 minutes of playing time tonight but he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. He didn’t have a point or an assist. His defense was nothing to write home about and his energy level wasn’t as high as usual. Honestly, it was strange that the coaching staff picked this game to play Osman the most minutes he’s played in a game since February.
Grade: C-
Zach Collins
Collins had a listless night at the office. Defensively, he didn’t do a whole lot in the paint and was bad when needed on the perimeter. Offensively, even when the Spurs needed someone to take charge, Collins was content to lurk in the shadows. Collins’ outing ended when he fouled out in only 15 minutes. Being Wembanyama’s backup isn’t easy but Collins didn’t give much of an effort against Memphis.
Grade: D+
Blake Wesley
Wesley isn’t a rookie but he’s playing like he has hit some sort of rookie wall. In his last three games, he has a total of three points and zero assists on 1-for-10 shooting from the field. To make matters worse, his defense is decaffeinated compared to his efforts earlier in the season.
Grade: D+
Pop
The bench unit was a disaster but Pop didn’t really attempt to shake things up. The Spurs were flat and careless much of the game — and Pop probably deserves some of that blame. It was frustrating to watch the Spurs play so casually and not see many tangible steps taken to try to correct the problems.
Grade: D