The San Antonio Spurs topped the New York Knicks 122-115 on Thursday night. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 30 points, 3 rebounds and one assist. Romeo Lankford scored 23 points. Trey Jones dropped in 13 and Jeremy Sochan scored 12 to give the Spurs four players in double-figures. Julius Randle was the leading scorer for the Knicks with 41 points. Immanuel Quickley scored 36 in a losing cause.
SPURS POSTGAME QUOTES
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On matching the physicality of Julius Randle and the Knicksā¦)
āI think as a group we handled the physicality pretty well. We gang-rebounded, so to speak. We went after loose balls, had a big stop at the end where the ball ended up on the floor, and had guys diving for it, so it was a hell of an effort. They deserve to enjoy that win.ā
(On how the Spurs are doing defending without fouling, especially the younger guysā¦)
ā(The Knicks) are great with their pump-fakes. You have about three or four guys at pump-fake all the time, so in that regard, we did pretty well. We kind of let them back in, maybe three or four times there in the second half where we got off our feet and it was three or four different players that were doing it. Itās a huge discipline for a young player to be able to just stay in front and absorb pump-fakes and not foul.ā
Spurs Forward Keldon Johnson
(On the Spurs building an early lead and holding on at the end of the gameā¦)
āStaying disciplined and executing. I feel like we did a great job of executing and stayed solid on defense for the most part. Obviously, we had some mistakes, but we stayed solid and just kept playing for each other.ā
(On Romeo Langfordās career-high 21 pointsā¦)
āI want all of you to go look at Romeoās highlights from high school and college. Iāve been saying this since last year, I want you all to look at his highlights and youāll see more than 20-point nights. Itās crazy⦠Iām proud of him. Iām happy heās with us. Heās a great defender, heās playing well. Cutting to the baskets, hitting jump-shots. He hit a big pull-up tonight. Heās a prime example of staying ready and taking advantage of an opportunity.ā
(On scoring 30 pointsā¦)
āJust taking what the defense is giving me. Being aggressive down the stretch. My teammates and coaches put me in great spots. They get me in spots that Iām comfortable with and that I can make plays out of and thatās what I did.ā