The Spurs Rediscovered their Offense against the Wizards

Mar 25, 2023 - 1:00 PM

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The Spurs have struggled to score the ball in their first two trips in a 4-game road trip. They haven’t reached 100 points in a game since they defeated the Hawks on March 19. They broke that streak in Washington, scoring 124 points, but the defense could not slow down the Wizards offensive onslaught in a 136-124 loss. The flood gates opened in the 4th quarter, when Washington’s Delon Wright took over, leading the Wiz on a 22-8 run that sealed the game.

The Wizards had four players score 20+ points: Corey Kispert (26), Kristaps Porzingis (23), Deni Advija (21) and Wright (24). They shot the ball extraordinarily well, going 60% from the field, and 50% from the three point line, hitting 15 shots from deep. They scored 10 more points at the line than San Antonio, hitting 19 of 26 compared to the Spurs 9 of 15.

The Spurs offensive attack was led by Keldon Johnson, who had missed the last two games with a neck injury. Johnson scored 30 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, going +3 in his 31 minutes. The Wizards had no answer for Johnson’s physical drives to the basket.

KJ also kept up the encouraging trend of his perimeter shooting, hitting three of his five shots from deep.

San Antonio’s veteran wings stepped up with Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell out with injuries. Doug McDermott was back in the lineup, and picked up where he left off. McBuckets provided a spark off the bench, putting up 18 points, and knocking in three triples. He also had one of the best dunks of the game for the Spurs.

Keita Bates-Diop has been a steady force for the Silver and Black all season long, and had a great performance in Washington. He had 20 points and 7 rebounds, knocking down 4 of his shots from deep. He mixed it up inside, scoring some tough baskets while getting the defensive assignment on “the unicorn,” Porzingis.

Malaki Branham had a nice bounce back game after a poor performance in Milwaukee. The rookie guard has struggled since his hot streak in February, averaging just 8.8 points on 38/27/100 splits. He’s struggled to find his shot in both the mid-range and from deep. Against Washington he responded with getting to the basket and using his array of creative finishes to score 15 points on 7 of 15 shooting from the field.

In Milwaukee, The Spurs coughed the ball up 19 times to the NBA’s best defensive team. Against the Wizards they looked much better taking care of the basketball, and at times looked showed some of the good-to-great passing that San Antonio is so famous for. They had just 5 turnovers, and 35 assists. Tre Jones led the way with 12 assists, a game high.

This play gets started with a stellar touch pass to the opposite wing from Sandro Mamukelashvili. His passing has been a major part of his success and ability to stay on the court. Against the Wiz he did a little bit of everything, scoring 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He had an impressive dump off to Bates-Diop in the first, hanging in the air and hitting the wing for a dunk.

Check out the full game highlights here:

The Spurs will wrap up their road trip in Boston on Sunday, March 26. They will look to steal one from the Celtics to come back home with at least one win.