Despite a better effort, the San Antonio Spurs’ losing ways continued as they fell 115-104 to the Philadelphia 76ers (10-5) at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.
The loss is the eighth straight for San Antonio, who have not won since November 7. The Spurs are off to their worst start since the 1996-97 season, the same year they would land the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.
“You’d rather win, but if you’re not winning, at least watch the guys improve and work on stuff,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said.
Popovich made another lineup change for the second straight game, putting point guard Dejounte Murray back in and taking Patty Mills to the bench.
As he has done the last three games, DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 29 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists as he shot 52 percent from the floor. Rudy Gay came off the bench and scored 22 points, a season-high for him.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points and six rebounds but no other Spurs would score in double figures in the loss.
Defensively, the Spurs struggled again. Philadelphia outrebounded San Antonio 51-32 and found their way easily to the rim countless times. In their eight-game losing streak, the Spurs are allowing an average of 122.3 points per game.
“We have to realize we are trash defensively,” DeRozan said. “Plain and simple.”
Philadelphia was led by Tobias Harris’ 26 points, while Joel Embiid added 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Sixers in the win.
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 5-11 on the season and will return to the court tonight when they close out their road trip against the New York Knicks (4-11) at Madison Square Garden.
