Spurs Lose To 76ers In Double O-T

The San Antonio Spurs are looking to get back in the win column after Sunday's 133-126 home loss to Philadelphia 76ers in double O-T. Star rookie Victor Wembanyama filled the stat sheet with 33 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocks and six assists in the losing effort. The Spurs are last in the West at 19-and-59. They take it on the road on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Tipoff at FedExForum is at 7 p.m.

SPURS POSTGAME QUOTES

Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich

(On the game…)

“They [the Spurs] were great. Double overtime game. They’re learning a lot. The difference in that game was the fact that [the 76ers] could dial up their defensive pressure. 25 turnovers, which resulted in 35 points. Shouldn’t even be in the ball game if you do that. That's been one of our deals all year. When that pressure is dialed up, defensively, we have a little bit of a problem with that. Tonight showed. They did everything they could until Philly did a great job dialing up and it was hard to run anything or get anything done. That’s the name of the game. Nothing else is really important.”

(On the special shoes he wore tonight…)

“All of us [head coaches] did for the last couple games. Just trying to bring some awareness to autism. That month for us in the NBA, I didn’t realize it was that prolific. I guess one in every 37 children is diagnosed with autism. That's a lot more than I think I knew. But it’s a malady that I think is misunderstood in some ways. Like it’s a bad thing or that person is the ‘other.’ No, that person is just different and really deserves our attention, our support and a realization that they have other traits that make them special. Giving them love and the support is really important and hopefully people will understand that they need to be included. They can’t be put aside as ‘others.’ They need to be included and supported. That’s why we’re trying to bring attention to it.”

Spurs Forward Julian Champagnie

(On Philadelphia’s defensive pressure…)

“I’m going to have to agree with him [Gregg Popovich]. Their intensity definitely picked up in the second overtime, especially. I think that maybe we could have handled it better, for sure.”

(On Victor Wembanyama trusting him to make the shot at the end of regulation…)

“I’ve been saying this all year long to anybody that’s asked me. He’s a super willing passer. As good as he is on offense and putting the ball in the basket…He’s very aware that he attracts a lot of attention, and he has no problem trusting his teammates to make open shots and make big shots. That’s what you got to see out there was just him being an unselfish player.”

Spurs Forward Victor Wembanyama

(On his thoughts of this season…)

“I was expecting really anything. Of course, a lot of challenges, a lot of adversity, but yeah it certainly wasn’t less than expected. But I was surprised at times what was actually hard in this league and what was actually easy. You can’t know before you experience it.”

(On finding balance between wins and losses…)

“I try to stay a little humble in victory, and don’t collapse under losses. But I think I’m good, because I would never stop enjoying wins. It might be very intense, but I won’t do it for long because we always got the next game to focus on. So, I think the only time we’ll celebrate a win for many days and weeks is when we win the whole thing.”

Spurs Guard Tre Jones

(On the final overtime…)

“It was a two-point game. I missed a bunny at the rim, they got a three out of it, I think, pushed it to five and then we came down and just turned it over which led to a quick bucket by them. That’s just how quick the game can turn, especially in overtime with there being such minimal time.”

(On the fight the team has shown in recent games…)

“We’re always going to be competitive, for sure. We’re looking at the big picture. We’ve been eliminated from playoff contention a while ago, so it’s always just been about continuing to get better this year, continue to try and build chemistry with each other, both offensively and defensively. Make sure that we’re working toward the right things, building good habits, things like that we can carry throughout the rest of the season and into next year as well. We got a lot of main guys out, but everybody stays ready. A lot of people have things to prove as well and continue to try to improve everybody's game. We’re going to fight every night, for sure. Obviously, we’ve been in a lot of close ones lately, so that’s definitely a good sign. But we let this one get away from us, so that definitely hurts. But we got two coming up, back-to-back coming up, so we just got to learn from this one and then be ready to go to Memphis and get a win.”