Posted on February 8, 2018, by Travis Pulver
The San Antonio Spurs have had some issues with offense and defense in recent weeks. But if how they played Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns is any indication, there is definitely hope. Not only did they win, but it was the third largest win in team history and the largest defeat the Suns have ever been handed.
Yes, sports fans, it was that bad. San Antonio led 28-9 after the first quarter, and it didn’t really get much better for Phoenix after that.
Via @ksatnews
“I think it was an embarrassment for all of us out here tonight,” Suns forward Jared Dudley said after the game (ESPN). “I think the fans definitely earned an apology for the display. It’s definitely unexcusable.”
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San Antonio led 69-31 at the half and extended their advantage to 97-50 heading into the fourth quarter. Needless to say, at that point, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was clearing the bench and letting everyone play.
But it still didn’t matter. San Antonio still outscored the Suns in the final quarter 32-31, to make the final score 129-81.
“We made shots,” Popovich said after the game. “You make shots, things get easy.”
They certainly did make their shots. As a team, the Spurs shot 46-93 from the floor (49.5 percent). But they were especially deadly from behind the arc. They ended up hitting 50 percent of their three-pointers (16-32).
“We are, I think, obviously undermanned and they just walked all over us,” Phoenix interim coach Jay Triano said after the game (ESPN). “They’re a veteran team, they play well, and we had no answer.”
The Suns were without their leading scorer, Devin Booker, for the second night in a row. They also had to do without center Tyson Chandler and Tyler Ulis.
Despite it being such a high scoring night for the Spurs, no one scored more than 23 points (LaMarcus Aldridge). But not because he struggled in any way; he hit ten of 14 shots from the floor. Since the game was so out of hand, he only played 28 minutes.
No one on the Spurs roster played less than 11 (Brandon Paul). Kyle Anderson was the only one not to make a basket (he attempted two).
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the Spurs. They lost Dejounte Murray in the second quarter to a sprained ankle. The team has not put a timetable on his return, but it is unlikely he’ll be seen before the All-Star break.
The Aftermath
While it was nice to see the Spurs playing so well, an argument could be made that they should look that good against a team like the Suns—who happen to have the most losses by any one team in the NBA this season (so far).
The trick will be doing it again Saturday night when they face the Golden State Warriors. But with how tired the Warriors have been of late, they just might.
Phoenix will try to keep their losing streak from reaching five when they face the Denver Nuggets Saturday night.