After end of skid, more good news with return of Vassell and Jones
Spurs center Zach Collins sported a noticeable look of relief on his face as the final buzzer sounded Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.
The 102-94 win over the Jazz snapped a club-record 16-game losing streak and left Collins and his teammates feeling rejuvenated.
“When you lose that many games in a row, it will get to you,” Collins said. “It weighs on you, and it is just a crap feeling. To finally be on the other side of that, it was good.”
More reasons for Collins to rejoice surfaced Thursday morning after he learned the starting backcourt of shooting guard Devin Vassell and point guard Tre Jones would be available later that night for the Spurs’ game against Indiana, their first at the AT&T Center since completing the nine-game rodeo trip.
Vassell had missed 25 games in a row since last playing in a Jan. 2 loss at Brooklyn. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his chronically sore left knee nine days later.
Jones had missed nine of the past 10 games, including the last five in a row, with a lingering foot injury.
“It is a great feeling seeing those guys get back to the court,” Collins said after shootaround. “Having Devin back tonight is going to be huge. He was scoring very well for us and being a leader for us on the court. Selfishly, we missed him very much. But on his part, he missed the game as well. It will be a good night for sure.”
Vassell always had pointed to a return after the All-star break. He’s been eager to get back on the court and hoping to pick up where he left off after making what he called the “tough decision” to have a breakout season interrupted
by surgery.
The third-year pro was averaging 19.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists while connecting on 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts before undergoing the procedure.
“Obviously, this is a big year for me, and missing time is tough,” Vassell said three weeks ago. “I am a big part of the team. It is hard to sit there and watch a lot of these games knowing that I can help.”
Jones — who joined the Spurs as a second-round pick in 2020, the same year they selected Vassell 11th overall — also was enjoying a career year before his injury.
In his first season as a starter, Jones averaged 12.8 points and 6.3 assists before his foot started bothering him.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said recently that the team has missed the undersized Jones’ “grunt, fearlessness and aggressiveness.”
“He’s one of those rare birds that he gets everything out of his talent that is even possible,” Popovich said. “We all know he’s not a great shooter. He’s working on it. But he gets into you defensively. He sticks his
nose in. He has a huge heart, and he cares about the team more than he does anything. It’s like osmosis; everybody else feels it. He’s taken great advantage of the minutes he’s gotten.”
Thursday’s game marked the Spurs’ return to the AT&T Center after
going 1-8 on their rodeo trip. They entered the outing 15-47 overall.
Even with the return of Vassell and Jones, the Spurs remained shorthanded with Keldon Johnson (left foot sprain), Isaiah Roby (ankle), Romeo Langford (adductor) and Khem Birch (knee)
missing Thursday’s game.
Malaki Branham (lower back contusion) was a game-time decision.
Johnson and Branham suffered their injuries late against the Jazz.
“I am feeling good, just a little tightness,” Branham said. “I am working
with the trainers and the staff. I am feeling a lot better than what I did.”
Branham said the injury occured when “someone landed on him” as he dove on a loose ball.
“I tried to play through it, but it just tightened up on me,” he said.
Losing Johnson and
Branham would deprive the Spurs of their leading scorer in the former and a rookie in the latter who is coming off a breakthrough month in which he led all first-year players in points (185), scoring average (16.8), games with 20-plus points (five) and was tied for first in field goal percentage (50 pecent).
Branham’s five games with 20 or more points in February are the most by a Spurs rookie in an entire season since Tim Duncan totaled 50 in 1997-98.
“It was me getting a routine, being confident in myself, getting more minutes and just being aggressive,” Branham said of his surge. “All those just kind of came together, and I just did my thing.”
While it may take a while for the Spurs to have their full complement of players available, it’s a major lift having Vassell and Jones back.
“It’s refreshing, man,” Collins said. “These guys mean so much to our team. We’ve had a lot of guys hurt, one through 15. But Tre and Devin were starters for us. To get them back is going to make the game a lot easier for us.”