Without generational talent Victor Wembanyama and facing a team that had just beaten them by 25 points, the San Antonio Spurs shocked a Phoenix Suns team that's playing for playoff seeding down the stretch of the NBA regular season. Give the credit to payback as a reason for the 104-102 stunner.
“We got blown out so I think we all took that personal,” Spurs center Zach Collins said.
Following the 131-106 loss to Phoenix two nights before, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich admitted there wasn't much his guys could've done against the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal.
“I think that was a big part of it and, obviously, we learned from our mistakes in the last game. The physicality was a lot better in the last game, the second quarter on. But it was too late. We did that for 48 minutes tonight and we took care of the ball. That was the difference,” Collins added.
It turns out pride served a better adjustment than strategy.
“Embarrassed” San Antonio bounce back
ClutchPoints asked Spurs forward Keldon Johnson if he indeed took Saturday's loss personally.
“Definitely. We got beat by, what, 40, 30? What did we get beat by? 25. S**t. It was a blowout. Yeah, you take it personal,” the Spurs' third-leading scorer for the season responded.
Especially if it's a home game, you don't want anybody coming in here to beat you in front of the home crowd like that, or even an away crowd. You took it personal. It was a little embarrassing for us. We took it personal, came out tonight, and got the job done.”
Spurs post-game
Asked Keldon Johnson if, given what his teammate Zach Collins had told us, he took this game personal considering the Suns had just blown them out Sat…
“It was a little embarrassing for us…came out tonight and got the job done."
Complete answer⬇️#PorVida pic.twitter.com/0sSUVQDn3V
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) March 26, 2024
Johnson scored 14 in his usual role off the bench. Collins tallied 18 points in starting for Wemby, who missed the game with a sprained left ankle.
“I have no doubt if Victor played tonight, we would've done the same thing, if not, beat them by more,” the third-year Spur said. “He's just as competitive of a guy as I've ever been around.”
While the top pick in this past summer's draft didn't play Monday, the Suns All-Star trio did.
Spurs hand Suns tough loss amid playoff chase
While the two-point victory served as just the 16th of the season for the Spurs, the Suns dropped to 42-30 and are now eighth in the Western Conference.
“I'm not into disrespecting our opponents. These guys are NBA guys, and there are some talented young players over there. Similar to the Milwaukee game, these guys wait on the opportunity when there's somebody [out] that they typically have to get the ball to every time. We weren't unprepared, we knew what to expect,” Phoenix star Devin Booker said.
Like he did on Saturday, Booker led the Suns in scoring. He put up 36 compared to 32 over the weekend. Kevin Durant added 29.
“We just knew they were going to play harder, knew they were going to play with more focus. They made big shots down the stretch. They got momentum at the end of the third, took the one-point lead that kind of grew from there.” Durant said.
“This game is about momentum. It was in their favor at the end of the third. The last three minutes of the third, they got the lead back, and got a little eight-point lead to start the fourth, too. So, they had momentum going into the fourth quarter,” the eighth leading scorer in NBA history continued.
With the win, the Spurs won the season series vs. the Suns 3-1, including back-to-back wins in Arizona in late October and early November.
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