SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs' tenth loss in a row was perhaps their most impressive effort and definitely contained the most bizarre moment of the season so far.
They got a monster double double from Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan's best game of the year, solid ball movement and good defense, but they fell to the Clippers 109-102. Somewhere in the middle, Gregg Popovich grabbed the mic to tell the fans to stop booing Kawhi Leonard, who led the way for LA with 26.
After the game Popovich said the cohesiveness of his team that was visible throughout was one of the reasons this didn't turn into a blowout, especially after starting the game with a lid on the basket.
San Antonio went the first 3 minutes and 23 seconds without a point as the crowd grew a bit restless, but the defense held tough. Wemby got hit on a three-point attempt and nailed all three at the line, Collins got a block, Wemby got it up to Sochan for a few more at the stripe to make it a 6-5 game.
Zach Collins and Jeremy Sochan swarmed Kawhi Leonard on a drive to force a turnover and get a rise out of the crowd. Wembanyama wound up on Harden Island poking at the ball, and The Beard busted out a crossover and stepback in the midrange that just made it over the rookie's fingertips and through the hoop.
Vassell came in and missed a three, then Kawhi hit one. Vassell missed his second shot, but made up for it with a steal on Paul George. The ensuing fast break resulted in an open three for Keldon, but it missed. The Spurs got three more shots on the possession and missed them all before George drilled a transition three, making Pop call a timeout with his team down 16-8.
San Antonio pulled to within four, but LA closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to make it 26-14. It's somewhat miraculous the score wasn't worse at that point as the Spurs shot 3-21 from the field and 2-12 from deep in the period. It's a testament to their effort level on defense.
LA hit a three through a foul to make it a 16-point game, Sochan huddled all of his guys up in the paint and talked things over before the free throw. On the next possession the ball moved smoothly and found Doug McDermott for a three that mercifully found the bottom of the net.
Cedi Osman drove for a finger roll swished a three, and forced a steal that led to free throws in transition for Wembanyama. Paul George kept hitting threes that got progressively more absurd, but Wemby drilled one of his own.
LA pushed it to 17 before Keldon rumbled through PJ Tucker for an and-1. On the next play Tre Jones jumped the passing lane for a steal and a scoop layup, and Ty Lue called time. Again San Antonio whipped the ball around, and Sochan drove on the Klaw before dumping it off to Collins for more free throws. Sochan drove, lost it, got it back, and got it off the window to make it a single digit deficit.
A truly surreal moment happened when Kawhi Leonard went to the free-throw line and the crowd booed as they have for the last six quarters here, and the last several years. Gregg Popovich grabbed the public address microphone and implored the fans to stop booing the guy. That made them boo louder for the next free throw and the remainder of the game.
Pop's message may not have had its intended result, but it got the crowd even more into it as San Antonio made a run to cut a 12-point lead down to three. For as poorly as they shot to start, they stuck with it and went into halftime down 54-48.
Kawhi started cooking in the third quarter, first with a dunk, then with a three, then with a pretty up and under. But San Antonio's new favorite player got going too. Wemby hit a shot in the post, then made a nice pass to Collins in pick and roll for a layup underneath. Sochan whipped it across the court to Zach for three, then Zach lobbed it to a cutting Wembanyama for a thunderous alley-oop jam.
Sochan found Keldon in the corner for three. Cedi ran an empty-side pick and roll with Wemby, who was seen at shootaround in the morning working on his screening and looked committed to setting good ones in this game. Osman faked to him on the drive and popped up a floater, and when it missed the rookie was there to tap it in.
The Spurs missed a few bunnies and gave the Clippers a few second chance opportunities as the LA lead ballooned to 18. Wemby checked in, went at Kawhi in the post, put a foul on him and went to the line. Vassell dumped it off to the rookie in the paint and he flipped it in. On the next possession Wemby set a screen for him and Vassell pulled up and swished a mid-range jumper. The Clippers led 82-70 heading to the fourth.
LA opened the final period with a few buckets.
A possession stalled out and Sochan dribbled into a three that swished. A few plays later he pumped at the arc, got Tucker up in the air, and drove through the lane for a dunk. He drove for free throws the next time down.
Branham played tough defense on Westbrook, who tried to loop the baseline but stepped on it. In transition Sochan sliced through the lane and finished through physical defense. Kawhi got it, the crowd booed more, and Keldon got called for a foul that looked like a bunch of malarkey. Keldon showed his frustration, but SOchan grabbed him and held him tight before he could pick up a technical.
San Antonio ran a play where Sochan whipped it to Collins at the top, Collins went high low to Wemby who got it in the post on Westbrook again. Keldon cut from the corner anticipating his defender would help, and Wembanyama bounced it to him for the backdoor dunk to make it a 12-point game.
Wemby stuffed a shot, Sochan found Vassell for three in transition, and suddenly it was a nine-point game again. Keldon drove from the corner and hit from the paint, and the Clippers called time clinging to a 100-93 advantage with 2:51 to play.
Kawhi posted Keldon and swished a fadeaway through the boos. The Spurs got an inbound play with just three on the shot clock and Sochan got it to Collins for a layup. Keldon got called for another foul after not touching Harden on the drive.
Vassell jumped into a three and swished it to make it 5 as the fans erupted. The Surs started the foul game, and their next inbound play got blown up but Wemby got it down low and scored.
The final at the buzzer was 109-102 Los Angeles, but the Spurs went home with a lot to be proud of.