December hadn't brought tons of holiday cheer to San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell's game. A career-high 36 points against the Los Angeles Lakers should change that. A 129-115 victory on Friday broke the franchise's longest losing streak in team history at 18. For Vassell, it ended a mini personal slump.
Vassell cold in December
Leading up to Friday night, Vassell had reached his 18.5 points per game average just once through the month's first five games. On Wednesday, against these same Lakers, he scored 13. It fell in line with performances dating back to December 1 when he put in 14 in a loss at the New Orleans Pelicans. In between, he tallied 22, 11 and 14 points leading up the first of back to back appearances vs. Los Angeles.
“I think at the beginning, my three was falling,” Vassell said of his game Friday, “It didn’t really in the third quarter, and in the second quarter when it wasn’t, just getting to the basket. At the end of the day, I feel like I’m a scorer and not just a shooter, so at the end of the day I just kind of scored at all three levels. When threes aren’t falling into the cup, I just got to stay aggressive.”
Vassell found himself setting for jump shots in the aforementioned recent games. Because most of his shots didn't go through the hoop, he finished with shooting percentages of 33.3, 31.3, 26.7 and 41.3 in those contests. Even when taking those numbers into account, he's still shooting at a 47.6 percent clip for the season.
“Man, did you all see Devin Vassell,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson exclaimed following the 14-point victory over the now 15-11 Lakers. “You know what's crazy? We've got so many doubters, this and that. He had a couple of bad games but man. As I tell you all the time, that's what he does. He put in the time for that.”
Leading the team past the streak
A preseason contract extension worth five years, $146 million told Vassell what the Spurs thought about him. It's no coincidence a win that ends the worst skid in franchise history coincides with the best night of their second leading's scorer's young career.
“It was huge. I can't really describe the feeling at the end of the day. As a competitor, you want to win every game and when you go through a stretch like that, that's tough. Whether it's outside noise, it's tough at the end of the day but for us to be resilient,” the former Florida State Seminole said.
“To stay together. Don’t point fingers. At the end of the day, just look in the mirror and know you have to be better,” the fourth year guard continued on the biggest lesson from the 18-game losing streak, “This was a tough little stretch I went through shooting the ball, but I don’t think it was just shooting the ball. I think it was me being engaged, whether it’s getting steals, whether it’s rebounding, whether it’s whatever it is, I just wasn’t locked in. I take that on myself to be a leader. We got a really young team, and I feel like a lot of people look up to me as to be that leader on the team. So, I accept that and I'm just glad we were able to get a dub today.”
Still only 23 years old, before Friday, he had yet to record a 30-point game in the NBA. Reminded afterward that he hadn't scored more than 29, a reporter playfully suggested that a 40-point performance is next. Vassell wasted no time referencing the Spurs game vs. New Orleans to start next week.
“Sunday, let's do it.”
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