‘We Fought Together’: How Spurs United to Break Historic Losing Streak
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The Spurs ended their nine-game road trip on a high note, earning a 102-95 road victory against the Jazz to snap their losing streak before heading back home.
Tuesday night was a welcome change of pace for the San Antonio Spurs.
Gregg Popovich’s squad entered the second game of a back-to-back series against the Utah Jazz with the worst losing streak it had ever had in franchise history.
The Spurs’ recent struggles only made their 102-94 win that much sweeter, however.
“It’s always a good feeling when we win,” small forward Keldon Johnson said following the game. “Ain’t nothing like it. We fought … and stayed together as a group, and good things happened.”
So what went right for San Antonio on the road?
For one, persistence proved key, as both teams remained in a back-and-forth battle throughout the majority of the game. It wasn’t until under three minutes to play when San Antonio finally pulled away to secure the road victory.
Johnson was vital down that stretch, scoring eight of San Antonio’s final 10 points to push them over the edge, though he won’t take the credit.
“We did it as a group,” Johnson said. “It just wasn’t one person with the [right] mindset … we all just came together and clicked. [We] were firing on all cylinders.”
Johnson was joined at the scoring apex by Doug McDermott — the forward-duo combining for 44 points on the night in their winning effort.
McDermott did what he was brought to San Antonio to do, flexing his top-20 ranking league-wide for 3-point percentage as he knocked down five more against Utah.
Despite the Spurs’ offensive playmakers, it was also their defense — which held the Jazz without a made field goal for the game’s final minutes — that came to play in their winning effort.
“[There’s] been an emphasis on closing out games [this season],” McDermott said. “We’ve given up a lot of leads this year … [but] I thought we did a really good job of being physical with the them down the stretch.”
The veteran forward held high praise for Johnson as well.
“[Keldon] took over,” McDermott said. “I thought he did a really job of letting the game come to him, and that’s why he closed out the way he did.”
Johnson scored more than 20 points against the Jazz, marking the 37th time of the season — nearly 60 percent of San Antonio’s total games.
He also shot 63 percent from the floor en route to his 25-point performance.
“I had it going a little bit,” he said. “I felt like I [was] making the right plays, [but] the main thing was my teammates and coaches trusting me. They put the ball in my hands, and trusted me to make the right decision.”
But whether it was Johnson, McDermott or even the Spurs’ rookie guard Blake Wesley — who had his most efficient shooting night of his career — San Antonio’s “coming together” was on full display.
“We really grew up [against the Jazz],” McDermott said. “They were playing for something … playing super hard, and we matched that. [I] was really happy to see that.”
As San Antonio returns home from its extended road trip, its sights will be set on continuing to play hard and earn wins, but even though their franchise-worst losing streak is officially broken, the Spurs are not done yet.
“Every time we go out there, we get better and better,” Johnson said. “We just got to keep fighting. This is just one win, we’ve lost too many to be celebrating. We’ve got to stay hungry.”
The Spurs now look to start a winning streak Thursday night against the Indiana Pacers at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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