SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs could not win their second game in a row after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans 146-110 at home.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Malaki Branham recorded 11 points. Zach Collins had two points and five rebounds in the win. Jeremy Sochan had five points and four assists. Keldon Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds. Devin Vassell recorded 13 points in the loss.
The Spurs are 4-21 on the season, and will next visit the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game.
SPURS
Gregg Popovich:
"That's what you call an ass-whooping. Pure and simple. Drop the mic. Period. Full stop, all that kind of stuff. They had a great night shooting. We couldn't throw it in the ocean. But on top of shooting well, they played very well. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be and got whipped real good.”
Cedi Osman
"The first five minutes, we were playing great. Then we kind of lost our energy. I think that it was just their day, I would say. I don’t know how many threes – like 23, 24 threes with a high percentage, and we couldn’t respond offensively. That hurts. It's tough to stay in a game when they shoot with a high percentage. We were trying our best, but it was not a good game for us. We have to forget this game as soon as possible and focus on another game against Milwaukee. It's going to be another tough game for us.”
Wembanyama
"They’ve (Pelicans) been shooting very well, and we haven’t. We haven’t been shooting very well tonight, so we need to make that extra effort on defense. If it was indeed a lack of energy, it’s something that’s easy to correct, and we need to do it right away."
PELICANS
Coach Willie Green
“Starting out the game being physical, knowing that this is a team that thrives off being able to pass the ball, getting to the paint, kickouts; we wanted to alleviate some of their abilities to be able to just navigate the offense, so it started with our physicality, keeping them out of the paint, forcing those guys to take tough shots."
Zion Williamson
“He's (Wembanyama) a threat all over the court. He's gonna be a matchup nightmare because he can get his shot off whenever he wants. And I think the more he plays in the NBA-style offense, the better he'll get at it. His presence alone can alter a lot of shots."
Brandon Ingram
"Every time somebody is hot we just go back to them, everybody fills up the way they play. So everybody's just coming in being professional and being unselfish and trying to get the best shot on the floor every time down. On the defensive end we've been solid.”