During the Spurs’ three-game winning streak, San Antonio came up big on the defensive end, but on Saturday night against the Grizzlies, the defense came up small.
San Antonio, who allow 111.3 points per game and 47% from the field, let the Grizzlies score 129 points and shoot 56% from the field, and the Grizzlies shot 48.6 percent (17-35) from three-point range for 51 points, the second-most the Spurs have allowed this season from beyond the arc. Ultimately, the Spurs would fall to Memphis 129-112 at AT&T Center.
De’Anthony Melton scored 20 points, and Ja Morant added 19 points and 11 assists for the Grizzlies. Memphis is on a six-game winning streak and played their first game since January 20 due to health and safety protocols.
After the game, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said maybe the team playing on Friday night impacted their performance.
“Everybody plays back-to-backs and three and four nights, and it probably showed a little bit on us, but everybody goes through it,” Popovich said. “You just have to play. We got outplayed tonight. That’s the bottom line.
While they lost, some good news came from this game for the Spurs. Derrick White returned after missing 14 games due to a toe injury, and in 22 minutes off the bench, White led the Spurs with 18 points.
“I’m feeling good,” White said. “I don’t have a broken toe this time, so that’s cool, but I feel good. Just trying to get my legs underneath me. Feel like I haven’t played in a while, so just trying to get my legs back underneath me and do whatever it takes to help us compete. That’s all I’m trying to do.”
Popovich added on White: “I thought he did very, very well for having been gone so long.”
The beauty of the 2020-21 NBA schedule is the two-game sets, and for the Spurs, they have an opportunity to get back at it against the Grizzlies on Monday night and correct whatever they did wrong.
