Jeremy Sochan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks over the Portland Trailblazers in the first half at Frost Bank Center on January 26, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at the Frost Bank Center, picking up a 116-100 win. Jeremy Sochan led the team with 31 points. Victor Wembanyama added 23 and Keldon Johnson had 21 points in the win. The Spurs are now 9 and 36 on the season and are back in action against the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. Tipoff is at 7:30 at the Frost Bank Center.
SPURS POSTGAME QUOTES:
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich:
(On Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson…)
“Between them, they got 30 rebounds and Tre [Jones] and Blake [Wesley] had, I think, 15 assists between the two of them, so they really played a good, solid basketball game and helped us.”
(On the team’s defensive performance after the first quarter…)
“I think in the second quarter, we held them to 24 [points]. [If] you do that in the NBA, that’s pretty good. It could be that they just missed shots, but it’s still 24. And so often you give up 35 or something like that. It’s a nice change.”
(On the team sharing the ball tonight…)
“They’ve done that a lot this season. There have been times where we’ve turned it over too much or not shot well, but we’re pretty consistent as far as sharing the ball and getting the number of assists we need to have a chance to win.”
Spurs Forward Victor Wembanyama
(On Keldon and Jeremy’s energy…)
“It felt like everything was falling in their hands. It’s great to see this progress being made.”
(On if he was excited for Jeremy …)
“Of course, yes. His energy, it reminded me of that game he had against the Hawks and when he’s playing like that. He’s just a great player in every aspect of the game. So, it makes me happy to see that.”
Spurs Forward Jeremy Sochan
(On his game tonight …)
“I’m not sure. Maybe a good night's sleep, maybe, I don’t know, good food. I just felt good. I feel like the emphasis recently has been to be aggressive. And sometimes I forget how athletic I am, so just going up strong.”
(On if tonight felt satisfying after coming off Wednesday’s game…)
“I think as a team we didn’t play our best against [Oklahoma City], so coming out strong; and we had a couple of ups and downs, but overall, I feel like we played with pace, we played together, and that’s all that matters. And defense, and we got the win. So, hopefully we can bring that tomorrow and for every other game.”