Spurs get chippy OT win against Pelicans to improve to 2-0

SB Nation

After a too easy and perhaps too fun opening night blowout of the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs came back down to earth a bit against an injured New Orleans Pelicans club that at least has a healthy Zion

Williamson back. It was a back-and-forth, ugly game where neither team ever led by double figures or could get in much of an offensive rhythm, but the Spurs pulled it out in OT despite Victor Wembanyama fouling out early.

Willamson got to flex on the opening possession after dunking and drawing a foul Wemby, but the satisfaction would be short lived as Wemby blocked his next three shots while getting two dunks of his own to get the Spurs out to a 7-2 lead. Still, the Pelicans kept the Spurs from running away with things despite shooting 52% in the quarter in part thanks to Jordan Poole doing his thing and hitting timely shots, but the Good Guys still led 30-27 after 12 minutes.

New Orleans took their first lead since opening 2-0 by using an 11-6 run to start the second quarter, forcing a Mitch Johnson timeout after two straight Pelicans threes, the first of which came on their third attempt of that possession. Devin Vassell responded by scoring the next 9 points to briefly retake the lead, but things stayed tight as neither team could find an offensive rhythm amidst a plethora of officiating calls. Finally, the French Vanilla combination of Luke Kornet and Wemby made their size felt with a few dunks and offensive rebounds, and the Spurs took their largest lead of the half at 53-46 with under four minutes to go. Unfortunately, the Pelicans closed on a 12-4 run to take a 58-57 halftime lead in large part thanks to hitting 7-16 threes, compared to 4-17 for the Spurs.

Like the first half, the Spurs started the second on a 7-2 run with all the points coming from Wemby. The run extended after a timeout without another Vassell three to extend the lead back to seven, but again the Pelicans answered with five straight to force a Spurs timeout. It remained a tight game until two more consecutive Vassell threes stretched the lead out to nine, 78-69, but again the Pelicans kept chipping back away in a continuously sloppy game, going on another 12-4 run to close a quarter and cut Spurs lead to two, 82-80, heading into the final frame.

Williamson finally got going in the fourth quarter after being quiet following the opening possession of the game, and the Pelicans stretched their run out to 24-8 before Mitch Johnson finally had to call another timeout with his team down six four minutes in. They got the lead out to 8, but then a spark came from an unexpected place. With both teams’ stars on the bench, Dylan Harper finally broke the ice for the Spurs with five straight points and seven overall all as part of a very sudden 14-0 run to retake the lead, 100-94.

But as was the theme all night, the Pelicans fought back and tied things up at 104 apiece with a minute left following three straight Spurs turnovers. Another Williamson bucket gave them the lead back with 31.5 sec left, but Stephon Castle hit a huge three after a timeout to regain the lead, and Williamson only hit one free throw after drawing a questionable foul on Wemby, tying things up and giving the Spurs a chance to win it with 11.9 seconds left. Unfortunately, Wemby couldn’t hit a tough fade away over a double team that probably wasn’t what had been drawn up, and it was time for overtime.

Wemby scored on a dunk to open OT but fouled out on the next possession, ending his night there. But the Spurs didn’t fold. A couple of threes from Vassell and Julian Champaginie gave them some cushion with an eight-point lead, which was all they needed to close things out (despite some mistakes in the closing seconds) as the Pelicans struggled to score the rest of the way, giving San Antonio a 120-116 win and 2-0 start to the season. It’s just the second time in franchise history they’ve started 2-0 exclusively on the road.

Game Notes

A lot of people got annoyed with the number of threes Wemby took last season, but there was a method to the madness. By adding the shot to his arsenal and hitting them at a respectable 35.2% rate, players now have to respect his outside shot, which in turn opens the driving lane for him. It happened a few times on opening night and again the first half when he drove right by a closing Williamson. So far through two games, Wemby has shot just 5 threes, hitting 1 of them (a percentage that will surely go up).
Speaking of threes and free throws, the Spurs continue to struggle hitting them to start the season. Julian Champagnie continue his trend of being red hot in the preseason before struggling to open the regular season, missing his first five tonight before hitting a huge one in OT (and you could see him celebrating in relief). Harrison Barnes also has yet to get going, hitting just 1-5. Overall, the Spurs hit just 13-43 from three while continuing to struggle from the free throw line, where they shot just 17-26. They won’t win games against better teams with numbers like that, so they have to get better.
Wemby didn’t have his best game ever, but he had 29 points and 11 rebounds and was robbed of a triple-double after being shorted at least one block. I had my suspicions after he was awarded 5 in the first half but I swore he had 6, and the broadcast confirmed it later by showing all of his blocks, with there being one more than he had at the time. Ultimately, he was awarded 9 blocks but should have had 10. J.R. Wilco also pointed out to me after the Mavs game that he saw 6 blocks but Wemby was only given 3. We may need to start keeping a tracker…

Play of the Game

The Spurs had plenty of big buckets in OT, but they don’t get there without this three from Castle late in regulation. It was a huge response in a tough moment, and he is quietly having a decent start to the season from outside, hitting 4-11, including 3-8 tonight.