Ex-spur Derozan eyes milestone
Demar Derozan has a chance to do something special in San Antonio.
The Chicago Bulls star enters Friday's game against his former team needing just seven points to become the 54th NBA/ ABA player to score 20,000 career points.
Derozan came into Wednesday's game against Indiana 24 points shy of the milestone but tallied 17 in the 124-109 win.
“I wanted to save it for Pop,” he joked to reporters after the game, referring to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Derozan played three seasons for the Spurs after Toronto traded him, Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 first-round pick in the July 2018 blockbuster deal for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The Spurs used the draft pick to select Keldon Johnson.
Derozan moved to Chicago in August 2021 when the Spurs traded him for Al-farouq Aminu, Thaddeus Young, a 2022 second-round pick (Kennedy Chandler), a 2025 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.
“(I'm) going back to a place I spent some time, learned so much from, a place that embraced me, wasn't nothing but love,” Derozan said. “And it was definitely a learning curve for me in my career at a critical time, and Pop really helped me a lot in my career. It will be cool to be able to do it there.”
But Derozan said he wouldn't be surprised if his former coach makes it as difficult as possible for him to hit the milestone.
“That's why, if it happens, it'd be special against Pop,” Derozan said. “Soon as I get seven points, I'm going to go thank Pop.”
Spurs guard Josh Richardson
has long been an admirer of Derozan, who is averaging 24.8 points and 5.4 assists for Chicago (3-2).
Richardson was a rookie with Miami in 2015-16 when he first faced Derozan.
“Great player,” Richardson said. “I have always liked competing against him. I looked up to him when he was in Toronto and I was a rookie. We played them in the playoffs, and he gave us a tough time. I also remember he hit a game-winner on us when I was with Dallas and he was with the Spurs. In Chicago, he's exploded, one of the best players in the league. His approach to the game is second to none.”
Friday's game kicks off a four-game homestand for the Spurs, who play seven of their next eight contests at the AT&T Center.
Spurs recall Branham, Wesley
The Spurs recalled rookie guard Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley from the Austin Spurs on Thursday after starting
guard Devin Vassell (sore left knee) and sixth man Josh Primo (left glute spasms) missed Wednesday's 134-122 loss at Minnesota.
Popovich called on Richardson to replace Vassell in the starting lineup against the Timberwolves. Making the 307th start of his career and eighth with the Spurs, the eighth-year pro finished with 11 points and a career-high 10 assists without a turnover.
“Devin is an enormous piece of our team, Primo is another huge piece of our team, so without those two guys things look a little different,” Richardson said. “But it's next man up, and I am proud of how everybody competed. The Timberwolves are a tough match up for any team, especially if you come in here shorthanded. It's not easy. But we competed for 48 (minutes).”
Timberwolves’ hot shooting
In avenging its 115-106 loss to the Spurs on Monday, Minnesota connected on 65 percent (52 of 80) from the field and 58.8 percent (20 of 34) from 3-point range.
The efficient shooting was a factor in the Timberwolves finishing the game without an offensive rebound. Since the NBA started tracking offensive rebounds, only four teams have finished a game without an offensive rebound and just three teams have won a game despite getting shut out on the offensive boards.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves (3-2) with 34 points after scoring just nine in the first meeting. Three other players scored at least 20 points for Minnesota, including Jaylen Nowell, who came off the bench to score eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter on 3-of-3 shooting.
Johnson led the Spurs with 27 points.
“We didn't play as sharply as we did the other night, and they made 20 threes,” Popovich said. “If somebody is going to make 20 threes, you got to pick it up in other areas of the game, and we turned it over inordinately (11 times) in the first half. But we were very solid in the third quarter. We were down 15, cut it in half, only had two turnovers, and that says a lot about the group's character. They just keep on pushing.”
Johnson collecting 3s
With a 5-of-10 effort from 3-point territory Wednesday, Johnson has 16 field goals from beyond the arc.
It's the highest number of 3s through the first five games of a season in Spurs history.
Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills and Roger Mason had 14.