The San Antonio Spurs, who were missing Victor Wembanyama because of ankle pain, lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, 132-119. The Bucks are currently 20-7, and the Spurs are 4-22.
The opening basket of the game was made by San Antonio. Unfortunately, the happy times did not last long. Milwaukee took command of the game with a 21-1 run in response.
The Spurs were able to recover a few more times after that to reduce the gap to single digits. But San Antonio’s run would always be cut short by the Bucks’ ability to lift the ante a little bit. Milwaukee was never really in danger of losing the game after their early run, despite the respectable final score.
Stats: Spurs at Bucks
Spurs at Bucks – Final Grades
Devin Vassell
It was an inefficient night on the offensive end for Vassell. His main problem against the Bucks was that he wasn’t playing within the offense. Instead, he missed open teammates to hunt his own shots. Vassell’s poor passing hurt the team and he also wasn’t playing much defense on the other end. It wasn’t his fault the Spurs lost but he has to play a smarter brand of basketball for San Antonio to have success.
Grade: C-
Keldon Johnson
Johnson deserves a round of applause for how he performed in Milwaukee. He basically willed the Spurs back into the game by brute force. Rather than firing contested three-pointers, Johnson muscled his way to the rim and refused to be denied. The result was a team-high 28 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. Johnson turned it over too much (5) and his defense was nothing to write home about but without his stubbornness to excel on offense, the Spurs would have been blown out of the water.
Grade: A
Jeremy Sochan
The good: Sochan almost finished with a sneaky triple-double. He ended up with nine points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in 33 minutes. He also didn’t turn the ball over. As the numbers suggest, Sochan had a really good evening in terms of passing and pulling down caroms. This was easily his best playmaking performance since losing the starting point guard gig. Defensively, I thought Sochan was better than average. The bad: Sochan’s jumper looks broken. The rotation on his shots is wonky beyond belief. His confidence also appears to be on life support right now. When he makes a mistake, he’s not moving on to the next play quick enough.
Grade: B
Malaki Branham
After doing next to nothing in the first half, Branham came alive in the second half. He tallied ten of his 12 points after halftime. At times, it seemed like getting him the ball was the easiest way for the Spurs to score. In retrospect, Branham being invisible was a main reason why the Spurs got off to such a slow start. If he’s going to keep the starting job, he has to bring the juice on a consistent basis. Branham can score and even pass a little bit … if he’s locked in.
Grade: B-
Zach Collins
Considering Collins’ shooting struggles this season, it was great to see him knock down four three-pointers. Overall, he did well on the offensive end. He scored in the paint, he authored smart passes and he played with physicality. Defensively, I wasn’t as impressed. Sometimes he guarded the rim well but his rotations were too slow more often than not. He also lacked discipline when going to help. Add in four turnovers and Collins’ lack of cleanliness surely didn’t help San Antonio’s cause.
Grade: B-
Tre Jones
In the first half, Jones did well. With the offense sputtering, he took the reins and performed admirably. His 12 first half points kept the Spurs in it and was exactly what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, his offense was apparently lost during the halftime break. In the third and fourth quarters, Jones didn’t do a whole lot of anything. He had some decent passes but his defense got worse and he missed three of his four shots from the field.
Grade: B-
Cedi Osman
More good stuff from Osman. His violent drives to the basket help give the bench unit an edge. Osman has been playing with purpose lately, which is actually more impressive than it sounds — especially on this Spurs team that routinely lacks self-assuredness. Defensively, he could have been better. He gambled a bit too much and the Bucks made him pay.
Grade: B