Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns drives past Jeremy Sochan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs in the first half at Frost Bank Center on March 23, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The Spurs lost to the Suns 131-106 on Saturday night. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 14 points. Victor Wembanyama added 13 points in the loss. The Spurs are now 15 and 56 on the season and will play the Suns again on Monday night.
SPURS POSTGAME QUOTES
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich:
(On how the team handled the difficulty level of the Suns…)
“They did the best they could. I thought we had a little more contact and physicality in the second half, but you're not going to stop [Devin Booker] and [Kevin Durant] from doing what they're doing, and [Bradley Beal] is healthy now. That's a pretty tough trio. Our guys did everything they could, and you move on.”
(On Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama getting more comfortable with each other on the court…)
“They've come a long way for just being together this season. Victor has so much to see and learn every night. I think they made a great effort to understand what's going on, on the court in various situations. Every night, Victor is seeing people that he either hasn't seen them or he's seen them once or twice in his life. It's fun to watch him.”
Spurs Guard Blake Wesley
(On what makes Phoenix so difficult to guard…)
“They have three All-Stars, three Hall-of-Famers, so they're hard to guard, hard to play. But it's a good challenge for us. We get to play them on Monday, too. So, we’ll accept the challenge … I like playing them, it makes me better.”
(On what the team can do differently defensively on Monday vs. the Suns…)
“Contain them a little bit. I feel like forcing more twos. They got a lot of threes up tonight, had us scrambling and knocked down shots. If we contain them to more twos and play the right way, defend, get on transitions, I feel like we’ve got a chance.”
Spurs Guard Keldon Johnson
(On adjustments for Monday vs. the Suns…)
“Hit more shots. Just continue to lock in and be better in team defense. They have some amazing players, some amazing one-on-one players at that, and an amazing support cast as well. So just being sharper on the defensive end, rotating early, and having each other’s back.”
(On manufacturing offense when the threes aren’t hitting…)
"Keep shooting. We've been shooting the ball well. Just because we’ve missed a few doesn't mean we need to stop shooting. When we hit shots, it will open up for [Victor Wembanyama]. So, we're just going to keep shooting, keep taking good attempts, and keep moving the ball so we can get those good attempts. Eventually, it will fall."
(On the large number of turnovers in tonight’s game…)
“We just have to take care of the ball better as a team. We’re capable of doing that and we showed that this year. We just need to build consistency.”