After recovering from a disappointing loss to the Houston Rockets by beating the Utah Jazz on the road, the Spurs are headed back home to face a New Orleans Pelicans squad that has the worst record in the West but has still managed to make things difficult for the Spurs in their previous three match-ups. A win will give the Spurs a sweep of the season series, and it’s one they will want to have before heading right back on the road again and facing a sneakily tough schedule ahead of the Rodeo Road
Trip in a few weeks.
San Antonio Spurs (31-14) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (11-36)
January 25, 2026 | 6:00 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel Sports | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries: Luke Kornet — Questionable (adductor); Harrison Ingram — Out (G-League); David Jones-Garcia — Out (G-League); Stanley Umude — Out (G-League)
Pelicans Injuries: Jose Alvarado — Questionable (oblique); Dejounte Murray — Out (Achilles); Trey Alexander — Out (G-League); Hunter Dickinson — Out (G-League)
What to watch for
The return of Devin Vassell and the hunt for consistency
It has once again been a week of mixed results for the Spurs. Their offense has pretty much recovered from its post-Christmas slump, and they were steady and consistent as they gradually put the Jazz away at home to open the week. However, in their two road games since, they struggled to keep their foot on the gas after building sizeable leads. In Houston, they completely fell apart in the fourth quarter, giving up what had been a 16-point lead and unable to stop the Rockets on defense or find any good shots on offense, leading to another loss. Then the same thing happened in Utah, but fortunately for them, the Jazz were unable to maintain the momentum that had allowed them to come back and tie things up, and De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama put the team on their backs to recover and make a dominant game-winning run.
While that’s what you want to see from your superstars, it would be better to not even need their heroics. The Spurs need to recognize there such thing as a “comfortable” lead in today’s NBA and not let up. Perhaps Devin Vassell’s return will help them find some more of that consistency on offense since he is someone who can create his own shot when they get in a rut. Regardless, they’ll need to be careful because while the Spurs have won all three match-ups against the Pelicans so far, each has been close thanks to explosive performances from players like Trey Murphy III and Derik Queen, plus Zion Williamson played well in his one appearance against the Spurs (in the 2nd game of the season, which went to overtime). Speaking of Zion…
The uncertainty of Zion Williamson
He was supposed to be their savior: the one who mitigated the sting of Anthony Davis demanding a trade. With promises of a smaller version of Shaq, Williamson was going to be the one who made the New Orleans basketball a true contender for the first time since Chris Paul was there. Instead, he’s another cautionary tale of how sometimes hype and talent doesn’t align with reality. Don’t get it wrong: both are real for Zion, but he has never been able to stay healthy enough to live up to it and constantly faces scrutiny over how much of that is his own fault, to the point that there are massive incentives regarding body management tied to his contract.
Now, in a scenario that seemed almost unheard of a couple of years ago, he’s a part of trade rumors. The Pelicans may be accepting that he is not the one who will carry them to the promised land, and with no first round pick in this season’s loaded draft, trading him might be the best way to get one, even if the Trae Young deal showed teams are starting to value their own picks more than a star with massive question marks. Williamson has been his typical self when he’s played this season — a terror at the rim but not even a threat to shoot from outside — but it just isn’t translating to wins anymore. With the trade deadline looming, it will be interesting to see how focused he actually is.
The weather
For all the stereotypes about Texans out there, one that is absolutely true is we don’t handle winter weather well, especially as far south as San Antonio. (I was 25 before I ever saw snow in SA and only recall one “ice day” from school, although some form of winter precipitation has become a near-annual event this decade.) With a massive storm moving across the country and dipping well into the South, there is a chance for icy roads beginning Sunday morning, depending on if it’s still raining and/or wet enough once freezing temperatures set in. If so, it’s possible this game is either postponed or sparsely attended. If it’s the latter, please don’t judge us! We don’t have the road treatments and special tires folks up north do.
You can follow along with game here on the Game Thread, as well as on our X profile (@poundingtherock).
