Popovich hopes Walker returns soon
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Monday he’s hopeful Lonnie Walker IV will return to action “sometime” during the five-game, eight-day road trip that begins Wednesday in Denver.
“He’s getting closer,” Popovich said of the injured swingman.
Monday’s game against Cleveland marked the eighth in a row Walker has missed with a sore right wrist. The Spurs entered the contest sporting a 2-5 record during that stretch without the third-year pro, who is averaging 11.5 points.
Popovich was asked what the impact has been on the team playing without the versatile Walker.
“He’s learning all the time,” Popovich said. “Obviously, he’s a good athlete. He’s been scoring for us. He’s aggressive defensively on the other end. We will be very happy to have him back. It makes us a lot deeper.”
The Spurs announced about 30 minutes before tipoff Monday that they would be without starting point guard Dejounte Murray because of a sore right foot. With Murray out, Popovich added forward Luka Samanic to the starting lineup along with regulars Derrick White, Demar Derozan, Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl.
On a positive note for the Spurs, recently acquired big man Gorgui Dieng suited up after missing two contests in a row with a sprained right shoulder.
Backup center Drew Eubanks, who missed Saturday’s overtime loss to Indiana because of a migraine, also returned.
Johnson impresses Cavaliers’ coach
In the first meeting this season between the Spurs and the Cavaliers, Johnson did something that hadn’t been done by a player for the Silver and Black in nearly eight years.
And it made a big impression on Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Playing 39 minutes in the 116-110 win on March 19, the 6foot-5 Johnson recorded a 23point, 21-rebound double-double, becoming the first Spurs player to record at least 20 points and 20 boards in the same game since Tim Duncan did it on Dec. 2, 2013, against
Atlanta.
“He kicked our butt, plain as that,” Bickerstaff said. “The guy had 20-plus rebounds, 11 offensive rebounds. He was outworking us. He was tremendous.”
Making Johnson’s outing even more impressive was the Spurs didn’t run a “ton of plays” for the second-year pro from Kentucky, Bickerstaff said.
“But he figured out how to have a huge impact,” Bickerstaff said. “I was extremely impressed with the doggedness he played with, the grit he played with and the understanding of the overall game and how he fit in it.”
Bickerstaff likes potential changes
Bickerstaff weighed in on the NBA Competition Committee reportedly considering potential modifications for the 2021-22 season.
The Athletic reported recently that the committee is debating whether to recommend to the NBA Board of Governors that the coach’s challenge be modified by awarding a second challenge if successful or ensuring teams keep a timeout in a successful challenge.
“Being rewarded if you have a successful challenge to get another one would be a good step,” Bickerstaff said. “The challenge for us (coaches) is that it’s also a test of truth with our players. Sometimes they say they didn’t foul, and then you get one of those where (the replay shows they did) foul, and then no longer can we trust you in those moments. But I do think you should be rewarded if you have a successful challenge.”
Bickerstaff also was asked whether coaches should be able to challenge everything. The coach’s challenge currently calls for a coach to trigger one instant replay review per game of a called foul, called out-of-bounds violation or called goaltending or basket interference violation.
The challenging team must call a legal timeout immediately after the call in question unless a mandatory timeout or timeout called by the opposing team is already underway, according to NBA rules. They retain the timeout only if they win the challenge.
“I think there should be limits,” Bickerstaff said. “We have the best referees in the business. I know I ride them pretty tough some nights, but I do think they are the best at their job, and they get a lot right. As the game is going, you still want to keep the motion, the pace of the game as well and not be able to stop it for everything. So I think we allow the referees to do their job, and then if there is any change, it’s a change in what you can do in maybe the last two minutes or overtime.”