PHOENIX — The San Antonio Spurs were eliminated from NBA Cup play on Tuesday night as they closed out their brief two-game road trip with a 104-93 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center.
The loss eliminates San Antonio from NBA Cup play, where they finish with a 2-2 record. Overall, they remain in 10th place in the Western Conference, the final play-in spot.
In case you missed it, here are three points from the Spurs’ loss to Phoenix.
Poor start doom
While the Spurs have rallied from behind in recent games, they could not do the same Tuesday night in Phoenix. The Suns raced out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back, leading by as many as 17.
Victor Wembanyama struggled in the first half, going scoreless and went 0-for-7 shooting. He would play better in the third quarter, scoring 15 points, all in the second half, and had 13 rebounds.
“I thought our defensive effort was really good. We turned the ball over. We missed a lot of shots. Both those things will put pressure on your defense, and I thought we held up well,” Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson said.
Wemby’s struggle
After a month of out of this world numbers, Wemby struggled in the first half, going scoreless in a half for the first time in his young career. He seemed a step slower and appeared to be second guessing himself for a lot of the opening half.
The second half saw him get into a better rhythm and saw shots start to fall. However, his teammates still could not find their consistency when it came to hitting their shots.
“This is tough,” Spurs guard Chris Paul said after the game. “We knew how big this game was for us and for me to come out and shoot the ball the way that I did, I’ve got to be better and lead by example. I think our defense was pretty good tonight, but our offense was not.”
Welcome back, Jeremy!
The two bright spots for the Spurs on Tuesday was Devin Vassell staying hot and the return of Jeremy Sochan. Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points off the bench and Sochan added 14 points and 12 rebounds in his first action over a month following a left thumb injury that required surgery.
Once the minutes restrictions end for both players, that could be an added boost for the young Spurs squad.
Up next
The Spurs are now 11-10 on the season and will return to the court on Thursday when they welcome the Chicago Bulls to the Frost Bank Center at 7:30 p.m.
