The Spurs came up short against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, losing 131-126. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 23 points. Zach Collins and Josh Richardson each had 17 points. Jeremy Sochan had 16 points and Romeo Landkford had 13 points. Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 36 points.
Postgame Comments:
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On Kawhi Leonard and the team’s performance…)
“He’s one of the finest players in the league. We’re talking about the very top of the list, he’s with those guys. The [Spurs], I thought they were spectacular. They never give in. They’re playing more physically than they have all year, they’re assisting, playing with each other, playing the right way and those guys made shots down the stretch and often times that’s the difference. I was very proud of our guys. They did a great job.”
(On Zach Collins’ season high…)
“He’s feeling more and more like himself. After all those injuries that kept him out, he’s had a lot of off time to take care of and get his rhythm back and he’s done that pretty damn well. I think it’s starting to show. He’s more patient, he’s more balanced, he’s more confident.”
(On tonight’s ball movement…)
“Well 34 assists is great. I’ll take that every night.”
Spurs Power Forward Zach Collins
(On the team’s performance despite the loss…)
“It sucks to lose. We are trying to win games and we put ourselves in the position to try to win games most of the time. Obviously, they are a very talented team, they got guys that can score off the bench, starting group, they got guys that can score and draw a lot of attention. Even with all them playing so well, we had a chance to win, so that’s definitely a positive. We definitely try to win, It’s frustrating.”
(On Kawhi Leonard’s style of play…)
“The great one’s man. They make it look easy. They all got different play styles, but they make really hard things to be great at look really easy. On top of that, in Kawhi’s case, he has a simple game; dribble pull ups, just taking what the defense gives him, seems like every time. Definitely hard to guard and he’s very strong and athletic.”
Spurs Guard Romeo Langford
(On matching up against Kawhi Leonard…)
“It was fun> I’m pretty sure it was my first time matching up against both Kawhi and Paul George. So, it was a fun test.”
(On the Spurs hard play tonight…)
“Clippers are a really good team. They have a lot of guys from top to bottom. We had a couple slip ups in the third and second and stuff, but I felt as if we played hard the whole entire game and tried our best at containing those two guys. Even though we ended up losing, we have a lot of stuff to hang our hats on and be proud of.”
(On Zach Collins improvement after injury…)
“Definitely, because I know what injuries can do to you. Especially mentally, trying to come back and when things don’t go your way after coming back from an injury. But with Zach, he comes in and works hard every single day and seems like he gets better and better each game, even though I’ve only been with him, not only for a full year yet, and definitely see his growth.”