The San Antonio Spurs will go for their third consecutive win on Sunday night when they play the Toronto Raptors to open a three-game road trip.
The Spurs (30-39) are coming off two home wins, 120-105 against the New York Knicks on Wednesday and 128-120 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
Jeremy Sochan led San Antonio’s scoring on Friday with a season-best 23 points.
“We won two games in a row,” interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “We haven’t done that in a long time.”
In fact, it was the first time the Spurs have won two straight since Dec. 31-Jan. 3. They won four in a row Nov. 19-26 with a healthier roster.
As for the Raptors (24-46), they are returning from a 1-3 road trip on a three-game losing streak.
The Spurs led the 76ers 64-52 at halftime but had to overcome an eight-point deficit with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter. They closed the game on a 17-3 surge.
“We had some possessions where no one screened, no one touched the paint, no one got to their spots, and (Philadelphia) capitalized on that,” Johnson said. “And that’s how you can produce runs the wrong way in this league. I thought it was nice to see the response in the fourth quarter, just got back playing together and for each other.”
Rookie point guard Stephon Castle recorded 17 points, a career-best 14 assists and three steals in the victory.
“We came together as players away from the coaches and said, ‘We’ve got to lock in on defense,'” Castle said. “We were kind of getting what we wanted offensively, but we just needed to guard and group rebound.
“So, once we got them off the offensive glass and got their main guys kind of uncomfortable and off the ball, we started to pull away.”
The depleted 76ers used a 43-27 third quarter to take a 95-91 lead into the final frame.
“They went on a little run, we kind of folded a little bit,” said Spurs reserve Blake Wesley, who scored 10 points. “But then we got right back to where we started.”
After being trounced 129-89 by the Phoenix Suns on Monday, the Raptors gave the Golden State Warriors all they could handle on Thursday before losing 117-114.
“We talked before the game about the importance of bringing that spirit that we lacked in the last game against Phoenix,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We played really hard. … It was a very important game for our young guys to learn what it looks like to play against a team like this and players like this.”
Scottie Barnes led the scoring with 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. However, he and Jonathan Mogbo committed three turnovers. Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead also turned the ball over five times each in the loss. Overall, Toronto made 23 turnovers, which led to 30 Golden State points.
“We definitely have to do a much better job of taking care of the ball,” Rajakovic said. “That’s the biggest reason why we lost.”
Rajakovic saw value in the strong performance otherwise. Toronto shot 56.4 percent (44-for-78) from the field and had a 44-38 rebounding advantage. He feels his team is building chemistry.
“Every time we see a great talented team with a lot of experience, it’s an amazing opportunity for us to see where we’re at,” he said. “It’s very important for the confidence of the young players to know that they can play with those guys.”
–Field Level Media
