SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs may have been a little nervous at the start of their first game in front of a home crowd in over a year, but after shaking off a poor first quarter, they dominated a shorthanded Orlando Magic team and won 104-77.
San Antonio won the second quarter 31-10 and the fourth 30-13, led by the starting backcourt of Derrick White and Dejounte Murray, and veterans Rudy Gay and Patty Mills off the bench. The Magic, coming off a game the previous night, ran out of gas late.
"At first it was a little different, cause we got accustomed to playing with nobody here, but to have that little bit of push during those lapses in play helped us a lot," said Gay, who led the team with 19 points and solid two-way play.
After the game, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich praised Gay, White, and the medical staff that has helped them both recover from COVID-19.
"(Gay) didn't have his legs in the second half last game, but obviously tonight he did," Popovich said of the vet who scored 12 of his team-leading 19 points in the fourth to put the game away.
"When me and Patty come onto the court, our thing is to be aggressive offensively, and also play the right way and play with each other," said Gay noting that usually Mills gets hot in the first half. Mills finished with 13 points, but more impressively stole it three times in the final two minutes of the first half in a 12-2 run that gave the Spurs a lead they wouldn't give back.
"He didn't turn down shots, he was aggressive, his defense was good, but they've kept him in great shape," Popovich said. "We've got a great training group, and these guys respond to them very well, they do everything they can to stay in shape and be ready, even though guys like him and Derrick and Devin haven't played in so long."
Pop also spoke about Derrick White getting back into a flow, hitting a few threes and knocking the rust off on drives as he put up 17. It's his third time reentering the lineup this year after a toe injury in the bubble, a different injury to the same toe in his first game back, and now a bout with coronavirus.
"It sucks, but I'm getting back slowly but surely. Everybody's trying to keep me confident, and helping me out through it all," White said. "This one was a little different because when I broke my toe I was still able to get in the gym and shoot, I just wasn't able to jump, so I'm still touching the ball and everything, this one I'm in a hotel for 10, 11 days just sitting there."
He said he's trying to get his feel back, and he his first time playing 5-on-5 hoops was in the first game back against Dallas, as he shot 1-8.
Nikola Vucevic put up 26 points for the tired, shorthanded Magic, shooting 12-18 with a hand in his face on most of those attempts. Orlando's other players shot 17-62, or 27.4%, from the floor. They were certainly gassed after a loss the previous night, but the Spurs were stout defensively.
"I think Dejounte and Patty had the most impact," said Gay, who added two blocks on that end. "They're the people that guarded people bringing the ball up, they start our defense."
Murray added 17 points, 6 assists, 6 boards and 2 steals, causing havoc on defense. San Antonio fell behind 29-16 after the first quarter, but after what had to be an intense halftime, he, White, and Keldon Johnson opened the second half with a full-court press, forcing a turnover. He said the game turned on the energy they brought as the game went on.
Murray is looking forward to continuing to get into a groove with White as the starting backcourt pair.
"I'm real excited, just knowing what type of player he is, what he's capable of, and how we can play off each other," Murray said. " I think just trying to help him get in rhythm, it's gonna be really really good for years to come, but you've got to start out by experience, and we're gonna grow each and every day."
Recap
Fourth quarter
Much like the second quarter, San Antonio's bench veterans started the final period off right.
Patty Mills hit a jumper off the bounce, then after good team defense led to a Dejounte Murray steal, Rudy Gay crammed a transition dunk.
Lonnie Walker IV drove and collapsed the defense before making an acrobatic pass to Dejounte, who swung the ball to an open Gay for three.
Gay got the ball in the post, fumbled it a bit, recovered, and hit a fading 11-footer for a personal 7-0 run that gave the Spurs their biggest lead of the game at 83-64.
After an Orlando bucket, Gay caught in the corner, pumped, sidestepped, and swished another three to put the Spurs up 20. Derrick White ran pick and roll, floating one in on the drive and hitting a free throw. Dejounte Murray gave the Spurs a 24-point lead with a little over 6 minutes left, functionally ending the game.
With the win well in hand, coach Popovich called on Luka Samanic for some bench minutes. Drew Eubanks showed some energy in the final few minutes, and the Spurs won 104-77.
Third quarter
The Spurs opened the second half with a rarely-used full-court press, and Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson forced a travel. Derrick White drive to the cup, finishing an acrobatic layup to give San Antonio their first double-digit lead of the game.
White drove and kicked to Dejounte, who drove and dumped it off to Jakob Poeltl for an easy bucket in close. Dejounte poked his hand into a dribble-handoff to rip a steal, getting an easy one at the rim in transition.
Orlando called timeout after the Spurs' 6-0 run to start the half, which added into their third 10-0 run of the game and put San Antonio up 53-39.
Keldon Johnson ran to contest a three point shot, and Chuma Okeke landed on his foot. Johnson and was called for a flagrant foul for a reckless closeout. Okeke hit all free throws, then hit a three over Johnson on the ensuing possession to cut their deficit to eight.
Derrick White slowed things down by taking a charge, but Murray turned it over a few times. Dwayne Bacon got a switch on Jakob Poeltl and hit a stepback three, White and Poeltl combined to turn it over, and Vucevic finished a layup to make it a four-point game.
White drove in and attacked Vucevic for a layup, but Vuc drove and found Gary Clark in the corner for an open three, making it a one-possession game.
Devin Vassell came in off the bench and hit from deep, his first bucket since his coronavirus quarantine. Clark got an and-1 on a feed from Vucevic, and then found Vuc for a three from the top.
Vassell again hit a three to put San Antonio back up six, this time from the corner. Patty Mills drove, stepped back, and hit from mid-range to give the Spurs some more breathing room.
Mills found Poeltl for a finish inside, then hit a three. Rudy Gay caught at the arc and drilled it, putting San Antonio up 12.
Vucevic continued to hit post shots over desperate double teams, hitting nothing but the bottom. He finished the third quarter with 26 points on 12-18 shooting, but with his team down 74-64.
Second quarter
The Spurs started the second quarter with a quick 5-0 run as they tightened up on defense. Rudy Gay attacked the paint and got to the line for free throws. Derrick White and Gay combined on a steal, then Dejounte Murray found Gay in the corner where he made an extra pass to Patty Mills for an open triple.
Gay got more free throws, then blocked a shot in the paint. Patty found Derrick White on the wing for three, drilling it.
After a huge block in close by Drew Eubanks, White got to the corner for another triple.
Jakob Poeltl stole an inbound pass, and Keldon Johnson drove to the basket to cap a 10-0 run and tie the game at 31.
Nikola Vucevic came back into the game and quickly hit for the sixth time in seven tries.
Murray attacked in pick and roll, finishing a mid-range pull up as Vucevic sank toward the rim. Vuc hit another silky-smooth mid-range jumper, but Murray answered from the baseline.
Murray tied it with another pull-up J, then took it all the way in to give the Spurs a 39-37 lead.
Vucevic finally missed, then Keldon Johnson blocked his floater attempt causing visible frustration. White passed it over the top to Johnson for an emphatic open dunk to extend the lead.
Patty Mills stole the ball three times in the final two minutes of the period as the Spurs put on a clinic with fast-break points.
San Antonio held Orlando to just ten points in the quarter, taking a 47-39 lead into halftime.
First quarter
San Antonio missed their first four shots as the shorthanded Magic opened the game with a 7-0 run. Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl combined to shoot 1-9 from the floor to start the contest, and Pop called timeout down 10-2.
Out of the break, Johnson finished a straight-line drive through the defense with a thunderous dunk.
Then he got to the free throw line. After more misses at the rim, the Spurs got mid-range shots from Lonnie Walker IV and Murray.
Nikola Vucevic made his first four shots and got to 11 points, doing a bit of everything inside and out. San Antonio trailed 29-16 after shooting just 7-27 from the floor.
Pregame
When, where: Friday, 8 p.m., San Antonio
All-time series record: Spurs lead 44-19
Last season: Tied 1-1
Season series: First meeting of the season
Last meeting: Spurs won 114-113, February 29, 2020
Magic's last game: Lost vs. Heat, 111-103sp
Spurs' last game: Lost vs. Mavericks, 119-93
Magic's last 10 games/streak: 3-7, won 3
Spurs' last 10 games/streak: 5-5, lost 6
Magic's injury/inactive report: Cole Anthony, OUT; James Ennis III, OUT; Terrence Ross, day-to-day; Evan Fournier, OUT; Aaron Gordon, day-to-day
Spurs' injury/inactive report: Devin Vassell: day-to-day (healthy and safety protocols); DeMar DeRozan: OUT (personal); LaMarcus Aldridge: OUT (not with team)
RELATED: Learning to live without LaMarcus Aldridge: Inside a year of growth for the San Antonio Spurs
It's been just over a year since the last time the Spurs played in front of a home crowd, but they'll have a limited number of fans in the stands when they face the Orlando Magic Friday night.
"The home fans affect every team," Popovich said "Here in San Antonio, the team has been so close to the community for so long, it's very significant for us to have them back."
LaMarcus Aldridge is not with the team as they work to trade him, and DeMar DeRozan is away from the team to attend his father's funeral. The rest of the Spurs will be good to go after COVID-19 sidelined five guys before the All Star break.
Orlando, on the other hand, is playing in the second game of a back-to-back without a number of players.
Spurs collapse in second half, fall to Mavericks 115-104
The Spurs had a strong first half but collapsed in the second, falling to the rival Mavericks 115-104 in the first game back from the All-Star break and their first game with LaMarcus Aldridge away from the team as they work on a trade.
"We're not a well-oiled machine by any stretch, but I thought they gave it a great effort. We lost the game on the boards tonight, they killed us on the boards," Popovich said after the Mavericks outrebounded San Antonio 51-30 and won second-chance points 21-2. "Played hard, played well, but too many mental mistakes, and a little bit uneven flow and uneven performances offensively."
DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and 11 assists, but scoring stalled for the entire team in the fourth as they missed 11 shots in a row during a critical stretch. Combine that with the rebounding on a night when Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis both turned it on late, that's the ballgame.