The Pelicans provided a much tougher test for the Silver and Black tonight than the poorly constructed roster of the Mavericks did on Wednesday. The combination of elite shooting and ball movement from
New Orleans kept the Spurs defense off balance as the home crowd kept the environment hostile for the Spurs. It was a good learning experience for the young Spurs, who hadn’t been challenged much in the first game blowout. Tonight’s contest was a foul fest, with Keldon Johnson fouling out early in the fourth quarter and Victor Wembanyama fouling out in the first minute of overtime. The Silver and Black took control for most of the OT period, and managed to survive a shaky final moment because of the 8 point lead they were able to gain earlier, and Harrison Barnes iced the final score by hitting a pair of free throws to keep the Pelicans from somehow forcing a second overtime.
The Spurs made a lot of mistakes this game, but they also did enough good things to grind out a win against a talented team in a hostile arena. Wembanyama was incredible, but the rest of the team stepped up in overtime after he was disqualified with his sixth foul. Stephon Castle had some great plays and also some bad moments, but the good outweighed the bad, and he’ll learn from his mistakes, and hopefully improve his free throw shooting.
As for the Pelicans, they are going to be tough this year. Zion Williamson is the best version of himself this year, Trey Murphy III can fill up the basket, and the rest of the team is really talented. Their draft picks Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears are both really good, and they look like a playoff team, even in the talent-packed west. There are no pushovers in the Western Conference.
Observations
- I understand why Coach Mitch would say things like “Embrace the Mundane,” but I have to tell you, nothing about the Mavs game was mundane. I was on the edge of my seat from the opening tip to the final buzzer. The Spurs were just so good with only a few minor lapses[——free throws—-], that I was engrossed the whole game.
- Zion flexed after hitting a dunk on the initial offensive possession of the game. The Spurs scored the next 7, but the Pelicans kept themselves in the game with with offensive rebounding as they got the ball for extra shots.
- Jordan McLaughlin is mostly considered as a throw-in on the Fox trade, but he’s a really solid player. He can play the point, and he a good shooter.
- The Spurs led 30-27 after one quarter, with Jordan Poole doing Jordan Poole things and hitting tough shots to keep the Pelicans close.
- Jeremiah Fears looks really good for a rookie in his second game. This year’s draft yielded so many amazing players, it’s almost unfathomable.
- The Pelicans led 58-57 at the half, with the help of a missed call on a kicked ball which resulted in a turnover, with Keldon diving for the ball and running into Zion giving the Pels a couple of free throws in the final second.
- Wembanyama had 5 blocks in the first half, but the Spurs wasted a lot of those by letting the Pelicans get offensive rebounds and extend the possessions.
- The way that Dallas structured their roster created a lot of advantageous matchups for the Silver and Black. The Pelicans are not as good of a team as the Mavs, but they create more matchup issues for the Spurs with their speed and shooting. It’s a different kind of challenge, and they kept the Spurs off balance for the first half as the score was close throughout. They really could have used Sochan’s defense to contain the Pelicans tonight.
- The Pelicans defensive intensity propelled them late in the third quarter as they held off a Spurs run and trailed by 2 with at 82-80 Spurs lead as the fourth quarter began.
- Keldon fouled out with 10 minutes left in the game. I can’t remember the last time that a Spurs player fouled out so early.
- The crowd was getting into the game early in the fourth, and the dirty birds were gathering momentum. With Jordan Hawkins triple they took a 6 point lead with 9 minutes left and Coach Mitch had to bring his guys back to the sideline with a timeout to remind them to embrace the mundane again.
- Mundane came back in style after the timeout, as the Spurs went on a 14-0 run to retake the lead with Dylan Harper and Harrison Barnes coming to life, in a great stretch for the Silver and Black with Wembanyama off the court.
- The Spurs offense got a little shaky late in the game, and three straight turnovers with less than 2 minutes left gave the Pelicans a shot, and they took it, retaking the lead 106-104 with 31 seconds left.
- The Spurs retook the lead with a Castle triple with 19.8 seconds to go. Castle isn’t known as a great three-point shooter, but he seems to hit the big ones. They led 107-106. Zion Williamson drew Wemby’s fifth foul with 12 seconds left but missed one of two to tie it at 107. The Spurs couldn’t retake the lead, and the game went into overtime.
- Things were looking tough for the Spurs when Wembanyama fouled out one minute into the overtime period. The other players on the Silver and had other ideas as they extended the lead to 8 points with just over a minute left in OT. The finish was a little shaky, with missed free and dumb turnovers as the Pelicans came within 2 points with 3 seconds left. But Harrison Barnes put the game to bed by hitting a pair of free throws as the Spurs won 120-116.
The Spurs are undefeated in the 2025-2026 NBA season. I mean, it’s only two games, but it’s hard not to overreact and think that they’re world beaters now. On Sunday, they take on the Brooklyn Nets in their first home game of the season with an early 1:00 PM tipoff. If the Spurs are going to have a let down, this kind of get-back game with an early start would be the time. It’s going to be interesting to see if Coach Mitch is going to have his guys locked in, or to see if they get complacent with the tiny taste of success that they’ve been able to experience just two games into the season.
