Spurs' strength
The San Antonio Spurs are on a path of wretchedness, which should be beyond doubt, but this season, the Spurs have beaten the Warriors and the Jazz, although they lost to the Suns, but both games have left suspense at the end. As can be seen from here, the Spurs are a player who can wrench wrists with the league's top teams. However, the team's record is only 11 wins and 17 losses, ranking twelfth in the West, which is not a good ranking. The reason is simple, this team lacks talent.
In this game, the Spurs have to face the Saramento Kings, this team is not lacking in talent, but it is still far from the playoffs, although the head coach has been changed, but it cannot change the fundamental problem. The Kings are 25th in the league in assists per game this season, while the Spurs are second in the league, and that's the biggest gap between the two teams. The contest between tactics and talent, who can laugh to the end?
The course of the game
The Kings, who played at home, showed their strength in the first quarter, Halliburton had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists on 3-of-4 shooting, not only scoring efficiently, but also successfully assisting teammates, Barnes was 8 points and 3 rebounds, Jones on the bench also had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block, the Kings bombed 37 points in a single quarter, and the Spurs only scored 27 points, 10 points behind the opponent. After returning from the second quarter, Murray had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Forbes on the bench had 8 points, and Walker also had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
With multi-point blossoming, the Spurs managed to close the point difference to seven points at the end of halftime. In the second half, the Spurs' offensive momentum remained the same, Murray had 9 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals on 4-of-5 shooting, both offensive and defensive, Johnson also had 5 points and 5 rebounds, and the Spurs were 29 points in a single quarter, but the point difference was only reduced to 6 points. In the final quarter of the game, the Spurs continued to chase, but who would have thought that the Kings' point guard Hield suddenly exploded, shooting 5-of-8, blasting 15 points, and with 3 minutes left in the game, the point difference was widened to 13 points.
Popovich also had a direct showdown, the team goal is to swing bad, call out the timeout, immediately replace the main player. However, the Spurs' bench was not easy to mess with, helping the team to keep narrowing the point gap, but it was too late, and in the end, the San Antonio Spurs lost 114-121 to the Saramento Kings.
Actually lost?
This game, if you look at the Spurs' data, will be extremely praised, the whole team 24 assists, only 14 mistakes, 91 shots, hit 45 goals, shooting 49.5%, three-point shooting rate is also 48%, free throw shooting rate is to 92.3%, this is definitely a well-trained team. But is it a bit puzzling that spurs like this have lost the game? The reason is simple, they leave the suspense until the last moment, but in the end they still fall in front of the talent.
Hield broke out in the final quarter, 18 points in a single quarter completely took the game away, shooting 10 of 18 from the field, 7 of 9 from three-point range, with 29 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Harry Burton was 12 of 19 shooting, 27 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, Jones also had 23 points and 8 rebounds, and Barnes had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. This team is truly talented, and when they know how to play properly, then it's time to win.
As for the San Antonio Spurs, Murray had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists, Johnson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Forbes had 18 points and 1 rebound, and Walker had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. However, White only had 5 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists on 2-of-8 shooting, while Pelter shot 2-of-10 for 4 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Again, if the Spurs want to win, White and Pelter have to step up.