As the San Antonio Spurs get set for their first back-to-back of the season, they also face their first set of games without a starter. The organization told ClutchPoints on Saturday morning that Devin Vassell was considered day-to-day with a mild groin strain after he exited Thursday's 132-121 win in Phoenix. Immediately following that game, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said he expected the fourth-year guard to be out for a while.
Vassell, who appeared in only 38 games last season largely because of an arthroscopic knee operation, did not play in Sunday's 123-116 loss to the Toronto Raptors. The team's second-leading scorer through six games this season (19.4 points per game) will miss Monday's game at the Indiana Pacers as well. At the time Vassell suffered the injury in the first half of the win at the Phoenix Suns, he ranked as the Spurs leading scorer. Combine his 17 points in 17 minutes that night with Victor Wembanyama's 38-point performance, and it's the top overall pick in this June's NBA Draft who now paces the Spurs with 20.5 points per game following 20 more in the loss to Toronto.
Enter Branham the Buckeye
Second-year guard Malaki Branham drew the start in Vassell's absence Sunday. The 20-year-old former Ohio State Buckeye shot the ball extremely well, hitting eight of the nine shots he took.
“Next man up. It's not my first time starting. I started a lot of games last year so, just being ready, that's it,” said Branham.
“I thought he did a good job. He came in and guarded pretty well. He made a few shots. He filled in nicely,” added Popovich.
One of three Spurs first-round draft picks in 2022, Branham is coming off a rookie campaign in which he averaged double figures with 10.2 points per game. In his sole season with the Buckeyes, Branham won Big 10 Freshman of the Year honors en route to being taken with the 20th pick of last year's draft. Last season, he started the exact same number of games as the man he's tasked with replacing now, 32.
“I thought he did a good job. He was aggressive. He was really, those one dribble pull-ups coming off screens. He's a pure bred scorer so he did a good job,” said Spurs big man Zach Collins following Sunday's loss.
Spurs may be down several starters
The Spurs could be without another starter as well on Monday in Indianapolis. A day after notching a team-high 26 points in the loss to Toronto, Keldon Johnson is listed on the injury report with soreness to his left wrist. At 17 ppg, ‘KJ' ranks third on the team in points to start the 2023-'24 season, serving as their leading scorer in two of their last three games. With the fifth-year forward's status in doubt, it stands to reason that one way or another, Branham figures to start a second game in as many days.
“We didn't play as good tonight but the great thing about the NBA is we've got another game tomorrow, which we do so just forgetting about this game and moving on to the next and doing the good things that we can do better: on the defensive end, offensive end, just playing a whole perfect game for 48 minutes.”
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