After an emotional roller coaster of a week, from losing two straight on the road to a wild, chaotic home win against the Rockets the night before, the Spurs were staring at the ultimate trap game against a shorthanded
New Orleans Pelicans squad that had still won two straight. Sparked by the season debut De’Aaron Fox, it wasn’t always pretty, but the Spurs led wire-to-wire and used a strong second quarter to keep the Pelicans at bay for a 126-119 win to improve to 7-2.
Fox had 24 points and 3 assists in his return to action, Victor Wembanyama had 18 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Stephon Castle had a 14-point, 14-assist double-double. Trey Murhpy III had a huge night with 41 points on 15-22 shooting.
Observations
- Fox’s return meant Julian Champagnie moved to a bench role. It also meant more of secondary ball-handler role for Castle, which he thrived in. Without having to set up plays but rather be in the middle of them, he finished the first quarter alone with 7 assists to zero turnovers. Fox had 1 assist and 2 rebounds in his first stint of the season.
- Off the top of my head, I can think of one time in my entire NBA watching experience that a “hanging on the rim” after a dunk was called. It was on DeJuan Blair when he was Spur, and he claimed it was to prevent from landing on a player who had fallen underneath. Fast forward to today, and early in the game, Trey Murphy III had put back dunk, added some flair afterwards by hanging on the rim and flailing his legs and ended up kicking Castle in the head. The ref stepped in to make sure Castle didn’t react, but no hanging call. So I ask, what is the point of that rule if it’s not that?
- Fox really got going offensively in the second quarter, where he scored 15 points, including 10 straight as part of a 15-0 to briefly break the game open. He didn’t seem hesitant about his hamstring, and his shooting stroke looks much better than last season now that his pinky finger is repaired.
- The Spurs got the lead out by as much as 17 during their second quarter surge, but they may have gotten comfort started falling for the “trap” aspect of this game, with the Pelicans down Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole and Yves Missi. They quickly fought back to get the lead back down to 8 at halftime and got as close as 5 midway through the third before the Spurs’ bench unit helped wake them back up and get the lead back out to as much as 13 in third, although they still failed to truly close things out.
- I am loving everything about Jeremy Sochan so far. He’s doing all the little things on both ends and brings a level of intensity on defense that helps keep things from falling off when Wemby exits. He may or may not eventually return to the starting lineup, but it’s great having him back regardless.
- Area 51 made its presence felt early in the fourth quarter with Castle finding Wemby for a reverse alley-oop and then a corner three to get the lead out to 14 and give the Spurs some breathing room that they would need every bit of the Pelicans just kept fighting back, getting as close as 3 three points with a few minutes to go as Murphy and Herb Jones kept hitting monster threes. They were still within three with under a minute to go, but that’s when Fox reminded everyone of his value in the clutch, hitting mid-range shot around Derik Queen and two free throws to seal the deal.
The Spurs will return to the road to take on the Tre Jones and the surprising Chicago Bulls on Monday. Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM CT on FanDuel Sports.
