Unlike their previous three games against the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs faced a team that's not expected to make the 2024 NBA playoffs. But like the Mavs, Kings and Lakers, the Utah Jazz proved too much for the “sloppy” Silver and Black. A 128-109 loss in Salt Lake City means a fourth straight loss for the Spurs.
“I think we were a little bit slow, sloppy, maybe tired so we had to make extra efforts and play smarter than usual. Which we didn't do,” Wembanyama said after the disappointing loss.
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs plagued by slow start
San Antonio found themselves down 14 after the first quarter against Utah, and the deficit grew to 24 by the intermission. The problems started with ball control – or lack of it.
“There was a ton. They had 12 points and seven of them were off our turnovers,” Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson said, “I thought we had some good defense early on and we didn't give ourselves a chance with some very sloppy possessions on offense.”
“It sure didn't help us. Very poor start. It's because of consistency, as always,” Wembanyama added. “To start, the problem wasn't even defensively. We were ready the whole first half and the rotations. There's always going to be mistakes but it was on the opposite side of the court.”
“It is a combination of things when you have a young team. It's discipline too,” Johnson continued.
Victor Wembanyama scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while also outpacing his league leading 3.3 blocks per game with five rejections in this one. His teammate, Devin Vassell, led all scorers with 27 points, while also hauling in nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. Center Zach Collins added 17 points off the bench, but it was another Spurs big man who drew some attention against the Jazz.
In his most extensive minutes since a January 13th loss to the Chicago Bulls, Sandro Mamukelashvili scored eight points in 14 minutes of action on Sunday night.
“Great energy. And he's done that in the history that he's been here. When he's been called upon, he always plays hard and brings energy,” Johnson said.
The Spurs assistant also commented on the offensive struggles that often plague the Spurs.
“Pass the ball, trust the next guy, move the ball, quick shots, over dribbling, playing in crowds are bugaboos and sometimes I think with young players the intentions may be right – I don't think it was a selfish night but ‘I want to make a play' and then the next guy wants to make the play. Sometimes you've got to just trust the team to make the play,”
Keldon Johnson sees massive decrease in minutes
The Spurs third leading scorer and primary option off the bench in Keldon Johnson played only four minutes vs. the Jazz. He averages 29.5 per game this season.
“Repetitive mistakes, sometimes you need to change up the messaging or change up the accountability or how you do things and Pop's [Gregg Popovich] the best at it,” Johnson said of the fifth-year Spur's lack of playing time.
Asked if he believes the team's longest tenured player, who averages 15.8 points per game but didn't score Sunday night, will bounce back, Johnson didn't hesitate.
“No doubt.”
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