The San Antonio Spurs suffered a 140-126 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans (10-7) at the Smoothie King Center on Monday night to complete a back-to-back set.
The loss was the fourth in the last five games for the Spurs, according to the bethard sportsbook, who saw their record move to .500 with the defeat.
Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: Dante Cunningham, DeMar DeRozan, and Bryn Forbes.
The Good:
- The Spurs were scorching from three-point land, going 12-for-24 on the night. At one point, there three’s are what kept them in the game.
- On a night where LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan struggled in the first half, the role players of Forbes and Cunningham came up big. That’s a good sign for the team chemistry moving forward.
The Bad:
- The team had no answer for Anthony Davis, who finished with 29 points and nine rebounds. Pop threw Aldridge, Poeltl, and even Chimezie Metu at him and to no avail.
- San Antonio also had trouble containing E’Twaun Moore, who exploded for 24 points and shot nearly 70 percent for the game.
- LaMarcus Aldridge struggled with the length of Davis, scoring just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting (18 percent) but he did grab 10 rebounds.
Three Standout Players:
Dante Cunningham:
Fans knew that Cunningham got the starting job from Coach Pop because of what he did on the defensive side of the ball. But Monday night showed he can still be a lethal offensive player when needed.
Cunningham scored a season-high 19 points, going perfect from the floor in the process. He went 7-for-7 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three-point land. He reminded many of Spurs legend Bruce Bowen, effective on defense and hitting a big three ball from the corner.
DeMar DeRozan:
The guard struggled to score in the first half but ramped it up in the second half, giving San Antonio a small shot to pull off a win that really looked like a loss on the schedule beforehand.
DeRozan finished with 21 points but shot 36 percent from the floor. He added six rebounds and nine assists on the night while slicing and dicing his way to the rim and drew fouls.
Bryn Forbes:
The guard was another bright spot for the Spurs offensively on Monday night and continues to show why he was chosen to be a starter: his pure shooting.
Forbes finished with 20 points and shot 87 percent from the floor, including going 5-for-6 from three-point range. While he gets flack for his lack of defense, there is no doubt that Bryn is a pure shooter and you can see his confidence grow as each game passes.
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 8-8 on the season and will return to the court on Wednesday for some pre-Thanksgiving basketball against the Memphis Grizzlies with tip-off set for 7:30 pm Central Time from the AT&T Center.
