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The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 126 to 120 in overtime. Devon Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points. Zach Collins added 24 points. The Spurs are now 18 and 52 on the season.
Postgame Reax:
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening statement…)
“Lot of great competitiveness. I think they did a great job. Got a little thin with Keita [Bates-Diop] and Jeremy [Sochan] out there in the second half, so you know that talent kind of took over when we lost those guys. We got a little thin. Down the stretch [Memphis] made shots. They made three 3s in a row. Give them credit for that, but great game. You learn a lot. To compete as hard as we did, proud of them. Did a good job.”
(On what allowed for stabilization in the fourth quarter…)
“I think that's just the growth that they've had. We had two or three guys out there that haven't played very much, and it showed during that period when Keldon [Johnson] and Zach [Collins] were out of the game, without Keldon and Jeremy, of course. But they persevered, and they took it back up to 10 or 12 something like that. Down the stretch, Memphis showed their experience, their talent. They did a good job.”
Spurs Forward Zach Collins
(On the impact caused by losing Jeremy and Keita in the second half…)
“It hurt. They’re very important to us. They do a lot of good things out there that make the game easier, so we missed them.”
(On the Spurs passing tonight…)
“It was good in the first half and bad in the second. That was a huge reason why we couldn’t keep scoring and taking bad shots. That put them in transition, and we were just playing on our heels for a lot of that run they made. We kind of just went away from it. I’m sure they keyed in on us, but we also didn’t execute like we did in the first half."
Spurs Guard Devin Vassell
(On losing Jeremy and Keita in the second half…)
“Obviously, it hurts. Two great players, key pieces for us. I think we just don’t know how to close out a game. We were up 11 with two minutes left. Several communication things and just being able to execute down the stretch is big. I said it all year, we’re a young team and we got to learn, but that one hurt.”
(On how the Grizzlies got back in the game …)
“They were knocking down shots. I think the first half we were shooting pretty good from the field, getting good shots, getting good ball movement, a lot of cuts, a lot of good passes, just moving the ball. In the second half, we got a little stationary. We just got to keep playing our game.”
(On playing former teammate Dejounte Murray on Sunday…)
“That’s my big bro, for real. He taught me the ins and outs of the league. Really helped me out to mature and how to take care of my body. I could go on and on, explaining how Dejounte has helped me out. But I just look forward to it. At the end of the day, he’s a huge competitor. All he wants to do is win. It’s going to be a great game when we play.”