The San Antonio Spurs were never really able to keep it close against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their most recent loss.
The San Antonio Spurs went to Cleveland on Friday night and were handed a blowout loss by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Spurs fell 130-117. In the second half, the game was never close.
The Spurs were led by 28 points from Devin Vassell and 25 from De'Aaron Fox, although, aside from Fox's nine assists, the Spurs struggled to move the ball. On top of that, with both Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet out with injuries, no one was readily able to protect the rim, and the Cavs feasted in the paint.
Cleveland missed only nine shots in the paint all night, and the Spurs recorded only three blocks in a lackluster effort.
After the game, the Spurs didn't shy away from criticizing their performance.
"Not enough ball movement," summed up Vassell after the loss. "Offensively and defensively, we just didn't guard the ball. They got to the lane way too much. They were finishing at the paint pretty much every single time, and we're not going to win games when people just continuously get in layups and, I mean, really no resistance."
The Spurs led for nearly the entire first half, letting their ten-point lead dwindle until the Cavs took control. It seemed that preparation from both players and the coaching staff was lacking.
"The lack of readiness, the lack of preparation to start a possession or to start a stint when [the Spurs] enter the game, the lack of the balls getting dribbled across half court, and I'm opposite, so I should be in the paint, ready to help," added Mitch Johnson. "Just a lot of little things. And you play good teams and good players, and they can get away from you fast. And I think we felt a little bit of all that, which ends up being a lot of it."
Cleveland, despite their record, is one of the best teams in the NBA, or at least the most talented. The Spurs' veterans, many of them under 27 years old themselves, were overwhelmed heading into the game.
"Being one of the leaders on the team, that's something that when Mitch calls the first timeout, we got to adjust to, and we got to sit here and get better at," Vassell said. "We can't sit here and just keep letting that snowball and snowball and snowball, so I think it's just something we got to learn from."
At least it seems like there's a silver lining.