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The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night, 132-119. Jakob Poeltl lead the team with 23 points. The Spurs are back in action on Tuesday night at home against the Nets.
POSTGAME REACTION:
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening statement…)
“They’re a better team. I think they’re like fifth in West, whatever it is. Against them, we made mistakes. It’s a lot easier to score when you make stops. You get pace, you get to go back, [and] that doesn’t happen for us very often, because we’re making so many defensive mistakes. The good part is they never give in. They just keep on pushing, keep on trying. With the defensive mistakes, it makes it tough on ourselves. We’ll just keep on working on that end of the floor, because we got to get better that way. I thought the boards hurt us at certain periods of the game, too, where they go two offensive rebounds in a row. That was bad. The margin of error is really small. We can’t afford to make that many mistakes. A lot of guys out there are busting their ass, and I’m happy about that.”
(On the Spurs defense youthful mistakes…)
“Of course. It’s a matter of habits. We don’t have enough people with good habits, defensively. We’re trying to get those, and it’s mandatory. There are no bad defensive teams playing at the end of the year. That’s just the way it is.”
Spurs Center Jakob Poeltl
(On the Spurs third quarter…)
“Tough to remember right now. I think when they had their run, we were making too many mistakes on defense. We know they are a high-scoring team. I think for a good portion of that game, we did a pretty good job. We had good runs on defense. But then when we gave them runs, we just made it too easy for them. Various different types of mistakes, but all mistakes that are easily fixable for us. We need to be more focused in those situations.”
(On the Spurs five-game losing streak…)
“It’s a lot about building habits, and you're not going to do that from one day to the next. I think the mistakes we need to fix immediately though are those where we either had a lack of focus or effort, things we know or are supposed to know already. Those mistakes are really hurting us.”
Spurs Guard Josh Richardson
(On the Spurs five-game losing streak…)
“Guys are playing hard. We fight until the end, and there’s been some parts, moving pieces and things that have switched how the game looks. Like the Alamodome was a big thing for such a young team to step into. But I’m just proud of how we’ve been fighting. The year is about growth, and I’ve been seeing that, so I’m proud of it.”
(On how he judges the Spurs growth…)
“Just from when teams run actions, how we are guarding it, if we are talking. Certain actions killed us earlier in the year. If we’re showing growth on how we guarded it, and if we can make those rotations, is big. And then just pace. Like Malaki Branham. He’s been up and down. He’s been having good games and has had some tough ones, but he’s a rookie. You just see the growth in his pace, his confidence, the shots he’s shooting. Jeremy’s [Sochan] been growing a lot and thrusted into a huge role for a rookie. He’s been doing a good job of just trying to stay calm, because he can be real up and down. Blake getting injured sucks, but when he goes to the G-League he's aggressive and does what he does. And when he comes here, he picks up full court and makes it tough on the offense. Just small things.”