A little more than halfway through the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves down 21-3. The deficit reached 20 late in the period before it topped out at 22 early in the second quarter. The Bucks, led by Damian Lillard's season-high 40 points, then outscored the Victor Wembanyama-less road team by nine in what proved a decisive third quarter.
Despite all of that, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised his team following the 132-119 loss.
“I think other than the start of the game where we looked like a deer in the headlights, where we weren't aggressive at all and they came at us with such a barrage offensively, making shots, and I think we got down. But after that I thought we played a pretty good game,” the Hall of Fame coach said.
The 13-point setback is the Spurs' 20th in their last 21 games.
‘Unprofessional' start for Spurs
Spurs center Zach Collins echoed Pop's sentiments, though his version was much sharper when talking about the bad start.
“We were just asleep for the first — I have to watch the film — probably four minutes,” the 6'11 big man said, “It didn't help that we couldn't hit a shot, but I think our mindset from the jump wasn't good. We have to be more professional, start games better because we played pretty well the rest of the way.
“That hurts when we know all we had to do was start a little bit better, be more aggressive, instead of getting hit first and having to respond. That's tough, but we're happy with how we played the rest of the way.”
Collins is in his seventh year out of Gonzaga but missed the entire 2020-21 season with a knee injury. He was one of several bright spots for the Silver and Black on Tuesday. Starting in place of Wembanyama, who missed the second NBA game of his young career with a sore right knee, Collins scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
“(Brook) Lopez is so deep in the paint, I've got to take those shots — wide open threes. Same with everybody. Everybody has to take those shots. I just tried to take what they gave me, try to be aggressive when I have my opportunities,” Collins, who hit 4-of-7 three-pointers, said.
Kekdon Johnson led the Spurs, matching a season-high 28 points, while Tre Jones scored 14 and dished five assists in 24 minutes.
Sochan, Portis mini altercation
With the Spurs down 17 and the fourth-quarter clock showing 8:52 remaining, Jeremy Sochan and Bucks reserve Bobby Portis got tangled up.
Bobby Portis and Jeremy Sochan had to be sepereated after getting tangled up 😳
The play is currently under review for a Flagrant foul.pic.twitter.com/9aDeQS7NTp
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 20, 2023
The play didn't escalate, though it took a while for officials to pull the two forwards apart, mainly because Portis wouldn't let go of Sochan's left arm. The ninth-year forward finished second in scoring for the Bucks with 23 points in 26 minutes. Sochan almost recorded a triple-double with nine points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Speaking of triple-doubles, Giannis Antetokounmpo notched his 37th in the NBA thanks a career-high 16 assists, 14 rebounds and a season-low 11 points.
Now 4-22, the Spurs continue a three-game road swing with a second matchup against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. DeMar DeRozan and company won in San Antonio 121-112 earlier this month.
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