The Spurs or the art of losing a (new) match that held their arms. At the top of 19 points at the start of the 2nd quarter (35-16) The men of Mitch Johnson ended up falling in the last period, lost 30 to 20, to bow on the wire (103-109) . This poorly mastered end of the match is reminiscent of the first meeting against these same Pelicans, two days ago: dominated in the rebounds, the Spurs had seen Zion Williamson (22 points) and his band take control, just before the finish photo.
De'aron fox too expensive
Despite everything, the Spurs had the ammunition to avoid a new road trip: returned to two possessions on a award -winning shot from Chris Paul 57 seconds from the term, the Texans have chained coarse errors, unable to make the right choices offensively. De'Aaron Fox's sixth loss of ball (15 points but 6/21 shots) in the last moments has definitively sealed the fate of Victor Wembanyama's partners.
Passed in front for the first time ten minutes from the end on a basket of Jordan Hawkins (83-85), the pelicans of a good Trey Murphy III (24 points) made it brought “The old demons” from San Antonio last season. Under the eyes of Tony Parker, the Spurs, unable to keep the distance against alleged lower teams, bowed for the third time in four games since the “Deep venous thrombosis From Victor Wembanyama.
Without “Wemby”, the Spurs “have no margin of error”
“” We have no margin of error ”Breaths Mitch Johnson, afterwards. “” So we have to put our free throws, we must mark when we have an advantage, we must be serious in defense … ” The end of the Texan season and these last twenty-six regular season games promise to be very long…
Before finding the Frost Bank Center against OKC on Sunday, the Spurs will conclude their “Rodeo Road Trip” with the Rockets then with the Grizzlies, while the Pelicans will continue by a new “back-to-back”, at the Suns.
What to remember
– Pelicans are no longer last in the west! By winning their 15th match in 56 games, against the Spurs, Willie Green's men took advantage of Portland's victory at Jazz (114-112) to leave the last place of the West Conference in Utah. This Blazers victory allows, in passing, at the Oregon franchise to reach the course of 25 victories and to double the spurs, now 13th with 24 victories and 32 defeats.
– Chris Paul in the three club. Author of a “double-double” against the Pelicans (12 points and 10 assists), “CP3” joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James in the closed circle of players who have scored more than 500 points in 20 different seasons or more. The “King” still dominates this ranking, with 22 seasons at more than 500 points.
– The masters of the racket. In difficulty in the rebounds throughout the season, the Pelicans made a strong impression in this area during their “back-to-back” against the Spurs. Reinforced by Jordan Hawkins (12 rebounds) and well helped by the absence of Victor Wembanyama, they took 20 offensive rebounds (for 61 taken, in total) and scored 66 of their 109 points in the racket.
