San Antonio Spurs '21-'22: One Last Rodeo (2K21)

[SpursFiesta]

@
Atlanta Hawks (2-1) at San Antonio Spurs (0-2)
AT&T Center; San Antonio, TX

Scorching Trae Young, Hawks outlast Collins, furious Spurs comeback 120-116

The Spurs entered this one after a listless performance against Philadelphia, and the first quarter didn't look much better, as they trailed 26-23. In the second, Trae Young began to heat up and put the Hawks in front by as many as 15 before a late barrage of threes cut the lead to 62-54 heading into the halftime break.

In the second half, nothing Coach Popovich tried worked to stop Trae Young, but the young guns of San Antonio matched them blow-for-blow. Pop tried slowing down Young with his marquee point guard defender Dejounte Murray, the long, athletic Devin Vassell, and the physical, scrappy Keldon Johnson, but nothing seemed to succeed. With the Hawks carrying a ten-point lead heading into the fourth, they knew that the only way to pull this one out would be to pick up the pace and simply make more buckets than Atlanta.

On the back of their big free agent signing, John Collins, the Spurs came within two late in the game against Collins' former team. Despite his best performance in a Spurs uniform with 28 points and 11 assists, Collins and San Antonio fell to the Hawks after two late daggers by (who else?) Trae Young, who ended with 50 points, tying a career high.

For the Hawks, four other players ended in double figures, including DeAndre Hunter's 17 points. On the Spurs' end, Dejounte Murray added 24 on 11/14 shooting, driving past Trae Young routinely, and Lonnie Walker combined with Derrick White for 7/11 from three-point land, but it wasn't enough on this night.

NEXT UP: After middling results in their first three losses of the season, the Spurs (0-3) stay home for a fourth straight against Nikola Jokic and the scuffling Denver Nuggets (1-3)!

Atlanta Hawks at San Antonio Spurs
Dec 15, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Atlanta (2-1)	26	36	31	27	120
San Antonio (0-2)	23	31	29	33	116

Atlanta Hawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Trae Young	31	20/30	8/15	2/2	4	5	4	0	3	50
Bogdan Bogdanovic	24	4/10	2/6	0/0	4	3	2	0	1	10
De'Andre Hunter	23	6/13	3/7	2/2	3	1	0	0	1	17
Danilo Gallinari	27	4/6	2/2	1/2	6	3	1	1	0	11
Clint Capela	30	2/4	0/0	1/1	11	1	1	0	1	5
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Cam Reddish	25	4/10	0/4	3/3	2	3	0	0	1	11
Doug McDermott	15	3/6	2/4	0/0	0	0	0	0	1	8
Kevin Huerter	14	1/4	1/1	0/0	6	1	0	1	2	3
T.J. McConnell	14	1/4	0/2	0/0	1	4	1	0	3	2
Onyeka Okongwu	14	1/1	0/0	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	2
DeAndre' Bembry	1	0/0	0/0	1/2	0	0	0	0	0	1
Daniel Theis	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Duncan Robinson	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		46/88	18/41	10/12	42	21	9	2	13	120

San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dejounte Murray	30	11/14	1/2	1/1	3	3	1	0	4	24
Derrick White	27	5/12	3/6	0/0	5	1	0	0	0	13
Devin Vassell	30	1/3	1/2	0/0	3	2	1	0	1	3
John Collins	31	12/21	0/1	4/4	11	2	2	3	3	28
Jakob Poeltl	26	2/2	0/0	0/0	7	0	0	0	2	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Keldon Johnson	19	4/7	1/1	3/3	3	1	0	0	0	12
Lonnie Walker IV	17	5/10	4/5	0/0	1	1	1	0	1	14
JaMychal Green	11	1/2	0/0	0/0	3	3	2	0	0	2
Drew Eubanks	11	0/1	0/0	0/0	1	0	1	3	1	0
Rudy Gay	9	3/5	1/2	1/3	1	2	1	0	1	8
Tre Jones	7	3/6	0/1	0/0	1	2	1	0	0	6
Luka Samanic	1	1/1	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Jalen Johnson	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		48/84	11/20	9/11	40	18	10	6	13	116

[XxVal_MarXx]

Shocking departure for the Spurs, Pop will be able to recover, I hope

[BobbyColtrane]

hell yeah lessssgooooo.

Following.

[SpursFiesta]

@
Denver Nuggets (1-3) at San Antonio Spurs (0-3)
AT&T Center; San Antonio, TX

Spurs' hot shooting, Collins' double-double spark San Antonio's 111-95 victory

It took a few games to gel, but San Antonio figured it out against Denver. Backed by the energy of their $120 million man, John Collins, the Spurs out-hustled, out-shot, and outplayed their Western Conference rivals from the opening tip. A 31-point opening quarter led to a stiff defensive second quarter where the Spurs allowed only 19 points en route to a 53-45 halftime lead.

The Spurs' physicality continued into the second half and particularly into the fourth quarter as they pulled away for a 111-95 victory backed by superior prowess on the boards and getting to the free throw line. Collins finished the outing with his best game so far, scoring 30 points and adding 11 of the Spurs' 51 rebounds. San Antonio shot 22 of 25 from the charity stripe and outscored Denver 50-36 down low while adding 9 three-balls on 19 attempts.

Despite nice nights from Jamal Murray (21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) and Gordon Hayward (15 points on 6/7 shooting in 14 minutes), the Spurs were able to hold Nikola Jokic to just 15 points on 33% shooting, though he did add 10 rebounds.

"Anytime you can take a guy like Jokic and make him look like everybody else in this league, it's a good night," noted Spurs power forward Keldon Johnson in the postgame press conference. "He's a dynamic player and we took it to him from jump."

NEXT UP: Now that they are in the win column, the Spurs (1-3) hit the road to take on last season's 7-seed and the surprise of the year so far, the young, impressive Sacramento Kings (5-1)!

Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs
Dec 17, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Denver (1-3)	26	19	27	23	95
San Antonio (0-3)	31	22	28	30	111

Denver Nuggets
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jamal Murray	29	8/20	4/11	1/2	2	4	0	0	2	21
Malik Beasley	28	3/8	1/3	0/0	2	0	1	0	0	7
Michael Porter Jr.	28	3/5	2/3	1/2	4	1	3	0	1	9
Kelly Olynyk	27	3/5	2/4	0/0	6	0	0	0	0	8
Nikola Jokic	31	6/18	2/4	1/2	10	2	1	1	1	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Monte Morris	21	1/8	0/0	1/2	2	6	2	0	2	3
Kelly Oubre Jr.	16	5/10	2/7	1/1	0	1	1	0	0	13
Bol Bol	15	1/3	0/1	0/0	3	2	0	0	0	2
Gordon Hayward	14	6/7	1/1	2/2	1	3	1	1	0	15
Zeke Nnaji	11	1/1	0/0	0/0	3	1	0	0	0	2
Austin Rivers	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Nicolò Melli	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Rodney McGruder	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		37/85	14/34	7/11	40	20	9	2	6	95

San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dejounte Murray	34	7/11	0/0	1/1	5	7	1	1	7	15
Derrick White	27	3/7	2/5	3/3	3	5	0	0	0	11
Devin Vassell	28	4/8	2/4	0/0	4	0	0	1	1	10
John Collins	28	12/24	1/3	5/5	11	2	0	0	1	30
Jakob Poeltl	25	1/2	0/0	1/2	10	1	2	3	1	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Lonnie Walker	17	7/10	2/3	6/7	3	1	0	0	0	22
Keldon Johnson	17	2/3	1/1	0/0	5	0	1	0	1	10
Drew Eubanks	16	1/2	0/0	0/0	4	0	0	0	3	2
JaMychal Green	12	1/2	0/0	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Rudy Gay	8	2/3	1/1	0/0	1	0	1	0	0	5
Tre Jones	8	1/3	1/2	0/0	1	1	0	0	0	3
Jalen Johnson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Luka Samanic	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		40/76	9/19	22/25	51	17	5	5	12	111

[SpursFiesta]

Quote: Originally Posted by XxVal_MarXx

Shocking departure for the Spurs, Pop will be able to recover, I hope

Quote: Originally Posted by BobbyColtrane

hell yeah lessssgooooo. Following.

Glad to have you both on board! As you can see, there were early growing pains, but better days ahead.

[SpursFiesta]

@
San Antonio Spurs (1-3) at Sacramento Kings (5-1)
Golden 1 Center; Sacramento, CA

Spurs knock off Kings 106-91 thanks to trio of Collins, Murray, and Walker

The Spurs picked up their second win of the season with some solid defense against a young, plucky Kings team that has been the talk of the league thus far. It was another game where John Collins starred for the Spurs, and he has seemed to find a groove throughout the early part of this season. Collins feasted on the young Marvin Bagley III down low, getting to the line early and often. Collins finished with 22 points (8 of 13 from the field, 6 of 7 from the line) to go along with 9 rebounds and 2 steals.

It was the second quarter which did in the Kings. After holding the Spurs to only 21 points in the first, the floodgates opened just before the half, as Lonnie Walker IV created a spark off the bench for a 37-20 quarter. He ended with 15 points and 4 assists to go along with Dejounte Murray's 15 points, 7 boards, and 6 dimes. On the Kings' side, the backcourt of De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton combined for 35 points on 15/27 shooting, and Bagley nearly had a double-double, but it wasn't enough to overtake San Antonio, who improved to 2-3 on the young year with a 106-91 victory.

Before the game, Sacramento's LaMarcus Aldridge shared a hug with Gregg Popovich, Dejounte Murray, and Derrick White as the five-time All-NBA forward faced off with the Spurs for the first time since his departure after six seasons in San Antonio. Aldridge had a respectable 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 18 minutes off the bench against his former squad.

NEXT UP: Next up on the road trip for the San Antonio Spurs (2-3) is a flight to Arizona to take on Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns (3-1)!

San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings
Dec 20, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
San Antonio (1-3)	21	37	30	18	106
Sacramento (5-1)	24	20	29	18	91

San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dejounte Murray	27	7/12	1/2	0/0	7	6	1	0	2	15
Derrick White	26	4/9	2/5	0/0	1	1	0	0	1	10
Devin Vassell	28	3/6	2/4	0/0	3	2	1	0	0	9
John Collins	30	8/13	0/1	6/7	9	1	2	1	0	22
Jakob Poeltl	26	3/4	0/0	2/2	9	0	1	4	1	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Lonnie Walker IV	19	6/10	1/3	2/2	1	4	0	0	0	15
Keldon Johnson	17	2/8	0/0	0/0	4	3	1	0	1	4
JaMychal Green	13	3/4	1/1	0/0	1	1	0	0	0	7
Drew Eubanks	13	2/3	0/0	0/0	2	2	0	0	0	4
Rudy Gay	10	2/5	1/3	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	5
Tre Jones	9	1/1	1/1	2/2	0	3	0	0	0	5
Jalen Johnson	1	1/1	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Luka Samanic	1	0/1	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		42/77	9/20	13/15	42	23	6	5	5	106

Sacramento Kings
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
De'Aaron Fox	32	9/18	2/5	1/2	1	1	1	1	5	21
Tyrese Haliburton	27	6/9	1/2	1/1	3	2	0	0	1	14
Terence Davis	26	2/10	1/4	0/0	4	1	0	0	0	5
Marvin Bagley III	28	5/12	0/1	0/1	9	1	2	0	1	10
Al Horford	26	1/3	1/2	2/2	6	2	1	0	1	5
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Harrison Barnes	18	2/4	0/1	1/1	3	0	0	0	0	5
LaMarcus Aldridge	18	3/4	0/0	0/1	4	2	1	0	0	6
Delon Wright	14	3/9	0/3	0/0	2	4	0	0	1	6
Jae Crowder	13	2/2	1/1	0/0	0	2	0	0	0	5
Allonzo Trier	10	4/5	3/4	1/2	0	1	0	0	0	12
Royce O'Neale	6	0/1	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Robert Woodard II	1	1/1	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Justin James	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	1	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		38/78	9/23	6/10	39	16	5	1	9	91

[SpursFiesta]

@
San Antonio Spurs (2-3) at Phoenix Suns (3-1)
Footprint Center; Phoenix, AZ

San Antonio survives Suns' three-point barrage to get back to .500, 112-107

After a shaky start to the season, the Spurs managed to win their third straight and improve to 3-3 against a very game Phoenix Suns team. Ten players, five on each side, put up double digits in a hotly contested game, including a 24 point, 6 rebound effort from John Collins and 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists from Suns star Devin Booker.

The teams roughly stayed neck-and-neck, with the Suns leading by three points at the half, and by one after three quarters. But San Antonio refused to give in. On the back of Collins' performance as well as 22 points and 7 assists from Lonnie Walker IV in his first start of the season, plus 19 points, 10 assists, and 7 boards from Dejounte Murray, the Spurs were finally able to overtake Phoenix and did not look back, defeating the Suns by a score of 112-107.

Despite the fact that the Suns shot a torrid 15 of 30 from three-point range, San Antonio continued to bang down low and outscored Phoenix in the paint to a tune of 44-30. Another factor was the free-throw percentage. The Suns got to the line over twice as often as the Spurs did, but they couldn't capitalize, shooting only 18 of 28, while the Spurs converted 12 of 13 from the stripe.

After the game, John Collins stated that "you gotta love any time you can pick up a dub on the road," and specifically shouted out Derrick White, who came off the bench in this one. "Derrick didn't complain and he made some good plays which helped do it for us." The fifth-year pro from the University of Colorado finished with 14 points on 6/8 shooting in just 15 minutes.

On the Suns' side, they came up just short despite 23 points, 5 boards, and 4 dimes for Booker, 20 points and 5 assists from Chris Paul, another 16 from Mikal Bridges, and a 10 point, 11 rebound double-double for DeAndre Ayton.

NEXT UP: Riding a three-game win streak, the Spurs (3-3) return home to take on the uncharacteristically struggling Los Angeles Clippers (2-4) and former Spur Kawhi Leonard!

San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns
Dec 21, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
San Antonio (2-3)	24	29	25	34	112
Phoenix (3-1)	27	29	23	28	107

San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dejounte Murray	28	8/13	0/1	3/3	6	10	1	0	3	19
Lonnie Walker IV	28	7/11	4/8	4/4	7	2	0	1	0	22
Devin Vassell	28	4/10	2/6	0/0	1	1	1	0	2	10
John Collins	29	11/17	1/4	1/2	6	1	0	1	1	24
Jakob Poeltl	27	0/0	0/0	0/0	7	0	1	3	0	0
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Keldon Johnson	17	2/4	0/2	2/2	3	2	0	0	0	6
Derrick White	15	6/8	1/1	1/1	2	0	0	0	1	14
Drew Eubanks	14	2/2	0/0	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	4
JaMychal Green	13	0/1	0/1	0/0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Rudy Gay	12	3/6	0/1	0/0	2	2	1	0	0	6
Tre Jones	7	3/5	0/0	1/1	0	4	0	0	1	7
Luka Samanic	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Johnson	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		46/77	8/23	12/13	39	22	4	6	8	112

Phoenix Suns
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Chris Paul	27	8/15	4/8	0/0	0	5	0	0	1	20
Devin Booker	32	8/14	2/3	5/9	5	4	1	0	0	23
Mikal Bridges	29	5/12	4/11	2/2	2	4	2	0	2	16
Cameron Johnson	27	1/3	0/1	0/0	4	5	0	0	0	2
DeAndre Ayton	30	3/7	0/0	4/6	11	1	2	0	0	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Josh Hart	18	2/4	1/1	0/0	2	0	0	0	2	5
Dario Saric	17	2/3	1/1	2/2	1	2	1	1	0	7
Otto Porter Jr.	15	1/2	0/0	3/5	0	1	0	0	0	5
Jalen Smith	14	4/6	0/2	2/4	4	0	1	0	0	10
Langston Galloway	8	2/3	2/2	0/0	0	2	0	0	0	6
Jared Butler	1	1/1	1/1	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Vincent Poirier	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yogi Ferrell	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		37/70	15/30	18/28	36	25	7	1	6	107

[SpursFiesta]

@
Los Angeles Clippers (2-4) at San Antonio Spurs (3-3)
AT&T Center; San Antonio, TX

Spurs cruise past Clippers 122-110 thanks to six in double-figures

Despite a dominant 40 point game from notorious former Spur Kawhi Leonard, it was a big team effort from Coach Gregg Popovich's squad that pushed them past Los Angeles. The fans booing Leonard showed that they don't forgive easily, though a twelve-point victory over Kawhi's team surely will help them move forward.

This one was pretty much over in the first half, as an offensive barrage put the Spurs up 70-45 at halftime. Despite a comeback attempt late by LA, they never got within single digits and San Antonio closed it out. The Spurs were led by Dejounte Murray's 20 points and 11 assists, as well as 20 points and 4 rebounds from Lonnie Walker IV. John Collins added 17 and 7 rebounds, while Jakob Poeltl had his best game of the season with 13 and 7 as well.

"When you only allow six guys on the other team to score a point, you put yourself in a good position to win," Popovich remarked after the game. "I was just as impressed with the defense as I was the offense, and it's my job to make sure we keep this up moving forward."

To Pop's point, outside of Leonard's 40 points on 17 of 25 shooting and Paul George's 29 points, the Clippers were only able to muster 41 points from four individuals: Shaquille Harrison, the Morris twins, and E'Twaun Moore. It was the Spurs' depth that carried the day.

NEXT UP: With four straight in the win column, the Spurs (4-3) visit Disney World looking for some Christmas Day Magic (3-3)!

Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs
Dec 23, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Los Angeles (2-4)	21	24	28	37	110
San Antonio (3-3)	37	33	25	27	122

Los Angeles Clippers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Shaquille Harrison	30	6/14	2/3	0/2	3	4	1	1	4	14
Paul George	34	10/16	3/6	6/8	4	4	1	0	1	29
Kawhi Leonard	30	17/25	2/4	4/6	2	3	1	0	1	40
Markieff Morris	30	2/2	2/2	0/0	6	0	1	1	0	6
Serge Ibaka	24	0/1	0/0	0/0	4	0	0	0	0	0
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Ivica Zubac	20	0/0	0/0	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Morris Sr.	14	4/8	0/1	0/0	4	0	0	0	0	8
E'Twaun Moore	14	6/7	1/1	0/0	0	0	1	0	1	13
Wayne Ellington	14	0/4	0/1	0/0	4	2	0	0	0	0
Ben McLemore	10	0/2	0/0	0/0	1	2	1	0	0	0
Sterling Brown	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Usman Garuba	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Daniel Oturu	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		45/79	10/18	10/16	34	15	6	2	7	110

San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dejounte Murray	31	9/12	1/1	1/1	4	11	1	0	6	20
Lonnie Walker IV	29	8/16	4/10	0/0	4	1	1	1	0	20
Devin Vassell	28	2/5	0/0	3/3	1	3	0	0	1	7
John Collins	28	8/12	1/3	0/0	7	2	1	0	1	17
Jakob Poeltl	26	6/10	0/0	1/1	7	0	1	2	0	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Keldon Johnson	22	7/11	2/4	0/1	2	2	2	0	0	16
Derrick White	17	5/8	2/3	2/2	5	2	0	0	1	14
JaMychal Green	11	1/3	0/1	0/0	2	1	0	0	0	2
Drew Eubanks	11	1/1	0/0	0/0	5	1	0	0	0	2
Rudy Gay	10	1/3	0/0	2/2	1	1	0	0	0	4
Tre Jones	7	3/4	1/1	0/0	2	0	0	0	0	7
Luka Samanic	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Jalen Johnson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		51/85	11/23	9/10	41	24	6	3	9	122