Spurs turn up defensive effort
NEW ORLEANS — Back in the old days, when the NBA still made some semblance of sense to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, he used to head into each game with a couple of specific defensive goals in mind.
He wanted his team to hold opponents to less than 22 points per quarter, and less than 100 points per game.
“That’s all baloney now,” Popovich said. “Just too many 3s. Too many talented people. You are not going to be able to do that.”
For the first half of a 126-118 victory over Atlanta on Sunday, Popovich’s fledgling squad seemed bent on proving its coach correct.
Much to his delight, the Spurs spent the entire second half proving him wrong.
After giving up a season-high 83 points before halftime, the Spurs allowed a season-low 35 in the final two quarters.
It helped the Spurs overcome a deficit that swelled to as many as 24 points after intermission, the biggest second-half comeback of the Popovich era.
“Many times this year, we keep fight and keep fighting and keep fighting,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “It kind of feels good to go down big and come back and get a win.”
In doing so, the Spurs were able to head to New Orleans for the start of a four-game road trip Tuesday on a bit of a high.
His team down by 18 after two quarters, Popovich’s halftime speech went heavy on the four-letter epithets.
“A lot of choice words,” Devin Vassell chuckled later.
Players got the point, even as Atlanta went up 85-61 on Clint Capela’s alley-oop dunk 31 seconds into the third quarter.
“Ultimately, we knew we could do better,” Johnson said. “Eighty-three in a half is unacceptable.”
In the end, the Spurs became the ninth team in NBA history to surrender as many as 83 points in a half and win.
They did it from going to sieve to vice on the defensive end.
The Spurs limited Atlanta’s Trae Young to nine points, his lowest-scoring performance of the season. The Hawks managed only four points of the game’s final 7:30.
It helped the Spurs flip the script from two nights earlier against Memphis, when they blew a 29point lead to fall in overtime.
The difference in the Spurs’ two defensive halves Sunday was glaring to Popovich.
“If you look at the tape, it becomes obvious,” Popovich said. “Our pickup points were well below the 3-point line, nobody is touching anybody. We’re just following them around in the first half. Then we got up into people physically and made it tougher for them to do what they do in the second half.”
Murray salutes San Antonio fans
Hawks guard Dejounte Murray said he appreciated the warm reception he received in his first game back at the AT&T Center.
Murray spent his first six NBA seasons with the Spurs before being dealt to Atlanta last summer.
“I felt like it was what it should be,” said Murray, who tallied 22 points in the Hawks’ defeat. “It showed nothing but love, both sides.”
The team began the festivities with a video thanking Murray for his time in San Antonio.
“I’m thankful, grateful,” Murray said. “It’s family forever.”
Attire fix lifts rookie Wesley
Reserve guard Devonte’ Graham did not play Sunday while nursing a leg injury
Yet his bit of fashion advice for rookie Blake Wesley during a fourthquarter timeout might have saved the game.
“He told me my headband was up too high,” Wesley said. “After the timeout, Devonte’ told me to pull my headband back down and I started scoring.”
With 3:48 remaining, Wesley made his first basket of the game to put the Spurs ahead 115-114. Moments later, he buried a confident 3-pointer.
“That was big for me,” Wesley said.