Spurs waste hot start by faltering late in loss to the Clippers

Following two consecutive wins, the Spurs looked poised to extend their streak on Monday night before collapsing late to James Harden and the Clippers.

San Antonio played their best quarter of the young season to start the game. The offense clicked right off the bat, as Wemby found Sochan for a wide-open dunk by spinning away from Harden and forcing Zubac to help. With the tone set, San Antonio continued to move the ball well and created easy shots from three and at the rim. The Spurs’ communication was on point in their own end, too: even with Wemby taking a seat halfway through the quarter, San Antonio still held the Clippers to just 14 points and ended the first up 40-14.

That turned out to be the last quarter the Spurs would win, though, as the momentum completely shifted in the second. LA came out firing on all cylinders by forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets in transition. The Spurs’ offense completely dried up too, as they had trouble dealing with the Clippers’ aggressive defense. It took San Antonio over six minutes to get their second basket of the quarter, and LA managed to make it a single-digit game by halftime.

Unfortunately, the Clippers’ onslaught continued in the second half. The game seemed to hit an equilibrium with both teams trading buckets until the end of the third. San Antonio maintained a double-digit lead then, but two crucial mistakes by Stephon Castle (detailed below) helped LA cut the lead from 10 down to just four. Then, the floodgates opened in the fourth as the Clippers caught fire from deep and went on a 27-7 run in just over seven minutes. With the home crowd hungry to see their first win in the Toilet Intuit Dome, LA held on to win 113-104.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise exciting game, but hopefully the young team can use it as a lesson moving forward. On the bright side, San Antonio didn’t quit even after LA went up by double digits, and that fighting spirit will keep the team in games this season — even if they’re overmatched from a talent perspective.

Game notes

I know this is beating a dead horse, but the quantity and types of threes that Wemby takes still drive me nuts (he finished 2/9 in this game). Before Monday night’s full slate of games, he averaged 6.8 attempts from deep per game, which ranked 39th league-wide. That might not sound like much until you realize that it’s more than players such as LeBron, KD, and Kyrie, and the next center on the list is Brook Lopez at 5.7 attempts per game (61st). More frustrating is that Wemby seems to take most of his attempts early in the shot clock when he can create better looks for himself and his teammates. I understand that he won’t continue making under 25% of his threes, and that the coaching staff is letting him explore the studio space, but a small part of me also worries that Wemby is playing a style that won’t maximize his potential.
Ok, let’s walk through the two crucial mistakes that Castle made at the end of the third. First, he was overly aggressive with his help defense by doubling Zubac in the post when the big man had a mismatch against Keldon. Collins was already in position to help and Castle’s role was to zone up on the two perimeter Clippers on the weak side, but with him abandoning his position, Zubac made an easy pass to Amir Coffey, who hit the wide-open three. Then, with 40 seconds left, Castle missed a shot and left too much time left on the clock, giving the Clippers a chance for a two for one — which they capitalized on after Coffey made another triple. These mistakes are expected for a rookie, and given what we know about Castle’s basketball IQ and work ethic, I’ve got no doubt that he’ll learn from them.
Sochan exited the game in the second quarter after playing just 12 minutes due to a thumb injury, and there was no update on his status immediately after the match. Hopefully his absence will be short-term — it’ll be disappointing to lose the breakout player for an extended stretch right as Devin Vassell is ramping back up.
Speaking of absences, let’s all hope that Pop is doing alright after it was reported that he will be out indefinitely due to a health issue. It’s also important to give him (and the team) some privacy on the matter, and we’re all hoping for him to make a full recovery.