Grades: San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors – Game #65
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs fell to the Warriors (Photo via Twitter)
Two nights after defeating the Golden State Warriors on the road, the San Antonio Spurs attempted to beat them again at the Frost Bank Center. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The Warriors were much more focused this time around and beat the Spurs by a final count of 112-102.
Early on, it looked like San Antonio could complete the two-game sweep. The offense was humming and the defense was flying around. At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs were up 37-29. In the second quarter, the Warriors began to find their rhythm and battled back.
The good guys were still up by five points in the third quarter but a 19-0 run by the Warriors allowed Golden State to grab control of the contest. The Spurs battled the rest of the way but could never fully recover from that run.
All in all, the Spurs played decently well but they ran up against a determined team loaded with decades of veteran know-how. They held tough but couldn’t overcome.
Stats: Spurs vs. Warriors
Spurs vs. Warriors – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
After missing two games with an ankle injury, Wembanyama wasn’t bashful in his return. He launched 25 field goal attempts in 31 minutes. Unfortunately, hiss touch was askew tonight, as evidenced by his 4-for-9 showing at the free throw line. More patience and more power would have been useful on the offensive end. That said, Wembanyama’s shot-selection was good enough and he did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball. I also thought his passing was above average. Defensively, Wembanyama was fantastic on the boards. That said, his rim protection wasn’t as stout as usual and his help-defense was sometimes a step slow. All in all, Wembanyama was productive but he definitely had more rough edges than normal tonight.
Grade: C+
Devin Vassell
Vassell returned after sitting out a game with a hip injury. It didn’t look like he was 100% healthy. While he was 5-for-8 from three-point land, he was 0-for-6 on two-pointers and had more turnovers and fouls (4) than rebounds, assists, steals and blocks combined (3). Vassell also struggled on defense. He got beat backdoor a number of times and wasn’t spry in rotations. Let’s hope he rediscovers his groove sooner than later.
Grade: C-
Tre Jones
Jones did well when orchestrating the offense. His playmaking was really good, he limited his mistakes and he reliably made the right pass. Scoring-wise, Jones is still not doing enough. That said, a couple of his moves to the hoop were worthy of a highlight reel. He just needs to do more so that he’s a threat on offense. Defensively, Jones competed but he wasn’t having much success on that end of the court.
Grade: B-
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie wasn’t super involved during his 28 minutes on the court. To his credit, he took advantage of his opportunities. Champagnie was 3-for-5 on three-pointers and had a couple of slick passes. Defensively, he was okay-ish. His lack of athleticism hurt him at times but he held up reasonably well.
Grade: B-
Keldon Johnson
Johnson had decent efficiency on his way to 16 points in 30 minutes. He hit 3-of-6 two-pointers, 2-of-6 three-pointers and 4-of-4 from the line. He also didn’t turn the ball over or even commit a foul. There were some negatives regarding Johnson’s play, however. First, his passing could have been better. He forced a few shots and missed a few wide open teammates. Second, his defense left a lot to be desired. Too often Johnson was confused by Golden State’s crafty movement.
Grade: C+
Malaki Branham
Ouch. After a four-game stretch where he averaged more than 20 points and seemingly hit every open three-pointer, Branham came crashing back to earth against the Warriors. He missed all four of his threes and was only 1-for-8 from the field. His dribbling was loose and his playmaking for others was nonexistent. Add in a lot of poor defensive possessions and, to be blunt, Branham was a leading reason why the Spurs lost this game.
Grade: F
Zach Collins
The good: Collins posted a double-double in only 17 minutes. His rim protection was a lot better and, as the numbers suggest, he was great on the boards. He had a couple of slick passes on near impossible angles. The bad: Collins turned it over five times — that’s just too much for a backup center. He can’t play that carelessly and be a winning element. Collins could have also been a bit cleaner in the fouling department — more discipline, less reaching.
Grade: B
Blake Wesley
Wesley was decent. Offensively, he racked up three more assists in 13 minutes without turning the ball over. In his last 62 minutes, he has 20 assists and only two turnovers. His increase in playmaking ability and decrease in carelessness has been astonishing year over year. Against the Warriors, he also had a couple buckets to keep Golden State honest. Defensively, the Warriors used his aggressiveness against him at times. They knew Wesley likes to play passing lanes so they had a few plays to specifically take advantage of that attribute.
Grade: C+
Dominick Barlow
The coaches tried to keep Barlow in the rotation by playing him at power forward. Let’s just say that it was a learning experience for Barlow. He had to defend out on the perimeter and it wasn’t always pretty. Offensively, Barlow struggled to spread the court when playing next to a center. He gravitated toward the middle — which can’t be the case when he’s at power forward. Barlow did bad, if we’re being honest, but he needs time like this if he’s going to eventually develop into a forward.
Grade: D
Pop
Pop made sure that Wembanyama was involved early and often. On the whole, the playcalling was fine — the Spurs got a lot of good shots from designed plays. Rotations-wise, I didn’t have any roaring gripes. A shorter leash for Branham would have been helpful. Forcing Barlow into the rotation hurt the team’s chances of winning … but it was good for his development — so I’m not too upset about that.
Grade: B