The San Antonio Spurs fell 111-109 to the Orlando Magic (5-7) at the Amway Center on Friday night, wrapping up a two-game road trip.
The loss is the fourth straight for San Antonio, who have lost seven of their last night games. The Spurs begin a four-game road trip next week two teams above .500 and two they narrowly beat earlier in the season.
“I thought we were pretty poor on the board tonight,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said. “I think they hurt us on the board. If there was anything that stands out, it’s the board they really hurt us on.”
Here are three thoughts from the game:
Aldridge: A cause for concern?
Once again, LaMarcus Aldridge was a main point of focus for many on Friday night but not for good reasons. Aldridge went 0-for-6 in the first half and was scoreless with a couple of rebounds. He was better in the second half, scoring 13 points and going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
San Antonio must figure out a way to get Aldridge going early but he must also get shots in the post and get comfortable early. If LMA had gotten going early, San Antonio may not have been in that situation on Friday. If the Spurs are going to snap themselves out of this losing streak, they’ll need all hands on deck and that includes Aldridge.
It’s all in the details
If you look at the box score, you will notice there’s a big difference in the free throws from Friday’s game. The Magic went 27-of-34 from the free-throw line compared to 6-for-10 for the Spurs.
San Antonio missed four free throws in the loss and as bad as they played defensively, they would have won if they had converted all their foul shots. That just goes to show how every sport is a game of details and this time, it was those details that bit the Spurs.
Defense.. defense.. defense
Once again, San Antonio’s issues surrounded its lack of defense. Orlando shot 41 percent for the game, which is nine percent below the halfway mark teams have shot against the Spurs. San Antonio had trouble defending Evan Fournier, who got loose for five 3-pointers and finished with 26 points.
During the four-game losing streak, the Spurs are allowing an average of 122.0 points per game. That includes a season-high 135 in a loss to the Boston Celtics. If the Spurs want to break out of this funk and get a win, there will have to be a big effort on the defensive end.
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 5-7 on the season and will return to the court tonight when they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to the AT&T Center at 7:30 p.m.
