Popovich joins Nelson at top for most regular-season wins
SAN ANTONIO — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made history Monday night, pulling into a tie with Don Nelson for the most regular-season wins in NBA history.
The Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-110 to give the 73-year-old Popovich his 1,335th victory. His first opportunity to gain sole possession of the top spot will come Wednesday when the Spurs host Toronto.
Popovich showed no emotion as the final seconds ticked off. He tried to get off the court with just a quick wave and thumbs up to the Los Angeles coaching staff, but Lakers coach Frank Vogel and assistant David Fizdale rushed over to congratulate him.
The Spurs public address announcer made no mention of Popovich tying the record. Instead, a team staffer conducted an onthe-court interview with Josh Richardson, who scored 18 points for the Spurs..
Popovich didn’t mention tying Nelson’s record in his postgame interview, sticking only to comments about his players.
The topic was also offlimits in the Spurs locker room.
“You guys know Pop. I don’t think he really cares about stuff like that,” center Jakob Poeltl said. “Didn’t even really get mentioned. I doubt it will get mentioned when we get the next win. It’s just how he is. It’s really impressive, though.
The Spurs (25-40) downed the Lakers (28-36) despite playing without starting forward Devin Vassell (sore throat), sixth man Lonnie Walker (stomach bug) and backup forward Keita Bates-Diop (sore back).
The Lakers played without superstar LeBron James, who was a late scratch with a sore knee.
Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 18,354, Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Carmelo Anthony had 17 for the Lakers.
The Spurs broke open a close game with an 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter that Richardson capped with a 3-pointer that gave them a 108-99 lead and forced a Lakers timeout with 6:58 remaining. But the Lakers fought back to pull within 108-105 on a 3-point shot by Talen Horton-Tucker with 5:39 left.
Jakob Poeltl helped secure the win by scoring seven of his 18 points in the final 4:57, including a bucket at the rim off a missed 3pointer by Josh Primo.
Starting in place of Vassell, Richardson recorded his high as a Spur in his first start with the club since coming to the Spurs in a trade deadline deal that sent Derrick White to Boston on Feb. 10.
Popovich was in a light mood early in the game. In the pre-game huddle just before tipoff, he engaged in some playful pushing and shoving with the players. And then during a first quarter timeout, he walked over to the courtside seats opposite the Spurs bench to ask Hall of Fame center David Robinson, who helped Popovich win two of his five NBA titles, to get in the game.
“He was trying to get us to play a little bit more aggressive,” Poeltl said of the pre-game jostling between Popovich and his players. “In these last few games, we’ve been pretty soft on defense. … I think that was just him trying to get a message across. He was pushing guys around and then it kind of ended up in a huddle, mosh-pit situation.”
Popovich’s first win came on Dec. 14, 1996, when he guided the Spurs to a 106-105 victory over Dallas. He took over the coaching reins after firing Bob Hill following a disappointing 3-15 start.
Popovich was the team’s general manager at the time.
Popovich became the NBA’s all-time winningest coach in terms of combined regular-season wins and postseason victories when the Spurs defeated Denver on April 13, 2019 in the opening game of a firstround playoff series.
With Monday’s triumph, he has 1,505 combined wins.