Pop proud of team’s 3-2 Eastern Conference road swing
Spurs swingman Lonnie Walker IV fought through pain to score a career-high 31 points in Saturday night’s 120-113 loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Playing with a sore right wrist that sidelined him the night before in Cleveland, Walker shook it off to sink 13 of 21 from the field without a free-throw attempt. He started in the backcourt and played 33 minutes after Gregg Popovich gave Dejounte Murray the night off to rest.
Walker said afterward his wrist was “killing” him during warm-ups in Cleveland.
“My wrist is still bothering me,” said Walker, who eclipsed his previous high of 28 points notched last season in a dramatic comeback against Houston. “I needed to sit that one out for sure. I had a couple of bumps and bruises, and I needed to recover the right way.”
Wearing a black wrap on his wrist against the Bucks, Walker grimaced a few times, but for the most part it was hard to tell he was hurting. That was especially true in the second half when he scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
After missing both of his 3point attempts in the first half, he was 5 of 7 from beyond the arc after halftime, swishing shot after shot.
“Just staying confident and trusting my shot,” he said. “I’ve shot thousands and thousands of
threes to get to this point.”
Said Popovich: “He played a great game. He made shots, made good decisions, busted his butt on defense, did good work.”
The shorthanded and weary Spurs (22-17) were in position to pull off the upset before faltering down the stretch. After finishing their five-game road trip through the Eastern Conference 3-2, they begin a nine-game homestand — the longest in franchise history — Monday night against Charlotte (20-21).
Popovich was proud of his young team for grinding its way through the trip, which began and ended with losses to title contenders. The Spurs had a lot going against them in Milwaukee, but they fought until the end against a Bucks team coming off two days of rest and riding a five-game winning streak.
“We had 29 assists tonight against a hell of a team,” Popovich said. “We’re thrilled with the way we played. We just have to keep the consistency.”
In addition to playing the second game of a back-to-back with Murray looking on from the bench, the Spurs were without sixth man Patty Mills, who also received the night off to rest.
“This was the fifth game in seven nights, and a couple of important guys didn’t play,” Popovich said. “But it doesn’t matter. They all come to compete, getting better all the time. As I told them after the game, they have more room to improve than a lot of teams because they are still learning an awful lot about what it takes to win.”
Keldon Johnson said Popovich’s words resonated with the young players.
“We know we have a lot of room to improve,” the secondyear forward said. “We have a lot of young guys and a lot of pieces. It’s kind of hard to say where our potential rests and where we can be at because we rarely have had a full healthy team. Once we hit our stride and (get healthy), we’ll be in really good shape.”
With the crazy, pandemicshortened 72-game regular season schedule, Popovich and the medical and training staffs face a near impossible task when it comes to keeping players fresh.
After having a handful of games postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined five players for a long stretch in the first half of the season, the Spurs are in the midst of playing 48 games in 60 days in the second half.
They have nine more back-tobacks and will not have more than a day off between games the rest of the way.
That is why Popovich told Murray and Mills to put their feet up Saturday night.
“As you can imagine, it takes its toll,” Popovich said. “We just decided with this increased density in the schedules since the All-star break we needed to help them stay in good shape.”
He said the NBA gave its blessing to the plan.
“We have been in constant contact with the league, and they’ve been great about understanding that sort of a situation,” Popovich said. “They know full well what everybody is going through. This seemed like the right way to go.”
It helps that the Spurs have so many young players who can withstand the rigors of playing such a condensed schedule. Popovich has his youngest roster since he became coach in 1996, with an average age of 25.5, including nine players younger than 25 and 13 of 17 players younger than 27.
“We’re a very young team, and we have guys like Rudy (Gay) and Demar (Derozan), great vets that keep us intact and keep us well-disciplined, so we’re only going to continue to get better,” Walker said. “You look across the board, everyone’s 24, 25, besides Rudy, who’s like 80, and Demar, who’s like 75.”
All kidding aside, the Spurs’ youth should help them as they grind their way through the grueling schedule.
“We’re extremely resilient,” Walker said. “Day-in and day-out we have guys who are going to put in the time, put in the work and compete to the fullest level. That’s just how we are. We’re only going to continue to get better.”
No Spur played more minutes in the back-to-back in Cleveland and Milwaukee than Johnson, who finished the set with a combined 73 minutes, including 39 in Friday night’s 116-110 victory over the Cavaliers when he scored 23 points and pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds.
“I feel good — I’m 21 years old,” he said. “It’s hard to say I’m tired when I’m one of the youngest on the team and none of our vets are complaining. You just have to put your head on and go out there every day.”
Even when one’s wrist is less than 100 percent or other body parts are aching.
“We don’t make excuses — no matter how many games, no matter how the road trip is, no matter if it is a back-to-back, or a back-to-back-to-back,” Walker said. “It doesn’t matter. We are going to play to the fullest degree, and try to get that ‘W.’ ”