Spurs hope to end losing skid tonight in Memphis.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In his best rim-protector style, LaMarcus Aldridge swatted away the suggestion it will be strange for the Spurs on Tuesday night to face a Grizzlies team without Marc Gasol on its roster.
“It’s not weird to me,” Aldridge said Monday, four days after Memphis traded Gasol to Toronto.
“When you’ve been playing this long, (you know) guys move around. Guys change teams. He’s not crazy old. He’s around my age. So change is definitely more common now. It just happens.”
What is odd to Aldridge is after opening the rodeo road trip with four consecutive losses — their longest losing streak of the season — it seems like forever since the Spurs have won.
“When you lose two in a row, it feels like forever,” said Aldridge, a veteran of two Spurs teams that won 60-plus games. “The main focus (Tuesday) is definitely to win.”
A loss to the new-look Grizzlies in the final game before the All-Star break would give the Spurs’ their longest skid since they dropped six in a row in March-April 2011.
The Grizzlies (23-34) have the second-worst record in the Western Conference, but they’ve beat the Spurs (32-26) twice in three games this season. But a lot has changed since the teams last met Jan. 9, with the biggest difference
being Gasol was cut loose in a deal that brought Jonas Valanciunas, Deion Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round pick to Memphis.
Spurs reserve center Pau Gasol, Marc’s older brother, greeted the trade with mixed feelings.
While Pau Gasol is sad the run of a Gasol on the Memphis Grizzlies roster since 2001 has ended, he’s happy to see Marc with a title contender.
“It’s bittersweet, but at the same time, it’s a great opportunity for him,” Pau Gasol said.
The trade came during Marc Gasol’s 11th season in the NBA, all with the Grizzlies. He left the franchise as its all-time leader in points and rebounds.
Pau Gasol played for Memphis from the start of the 2001-02 season until the Grizzlies traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers — for his brother and other pieces — on Feb. 1, 2008 in a deal that helped the Lakers win two NBA titles.
Now Pau Gasol hopes his younger brother will have similar good fortune with his change in scenery.
“It speaks highly of the Grizzlies…how they put me in a position to succeed and (are) doing the same with Marc,” Pau Gasol said. “I think that’s an appreciation and a great sign of respect for the player. Obviously, they had to get their stuff in return, and players in return. But I think it’s a great opportunity for Marc in Toronto, and I hope he will be happy there.”
ESPN Deportes reported Pau Gasol had asked the Spurs to trade him before last week’s deadline, but the club couldn’t find a partner willing to absorb what remains of the three-year, $48 million contract he signed in summer 2017.
“I focus every day, to stay ready, to do my best, to control what I can control, to be a professional, and to be a good teammate,” said Pau Gasol, who fell out of coach Gregg Popovich’s rotation after missing 26 games during November and December with a foot injury.
While Aldridge dismissed the strangeness of Marc Gasol’s absence, Spurs guard Patty Mills acknowledged it would be “odd” to go against the Grizzlies without facing the three-time All-Star.
“I assume they’re going to be a lot different,” Mills said.
Like Aldridge, Mills is more concerned about the state of the Spurs.
“We’re going through times of adversity,” he said. “But I honestly believe if we get through these (tough) times, they will end up being the toughest times. We’ll learn from it and grow and get better.”
After Memphis, the Spurs will have nine days off before finishing their eight-game trek against Marc Gasol, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and the rest of the Raptors, the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets.
Of the remaining four games on the trip, the Spurs best opportunity to collect wins will be against the Grizzlies and the Knicks, the league’s worst team. Toronto and Brooklyn will be out for revenge after losing to the Spurs in January at the AT&T Center.
“Every game right now has the emphasis of being huge for us,” Aldridge said. “This Memphis game is pretty huge, and I think everyone knows that.”