After losing 11 consecutive games, the San Antonio Spurs have now won back-to-back games for the first time since late October as the Silver & Black knocked out the miami heat 115-111.
In a contest that was back and forth for most of the night, Devin Vassell came up late with two shots from the highest degree to earn the Spurs victory in Miami.
Going into the game, San Antonio held on, but had to work incredibly hard for their points with the Heat’s vaunted defense. The more veteran team, the Heat, received the favorable call at the start of this contest, having a 13-3 advantage on free throws in the first quarter. Spurs were going to have to find an advantage themselves and it was their bench that provided the spark to keep the scoreline close with Miami. They were down only 4 after 1; 29-25.
The second started well for the Silver & Black with an 8-0 run through Devin Vassell to propel them into the lead. At the other end of the field, Spurs suffered from a few defensive misunderstandings, which gave the home side easy points. Zach Collins, who has had a few tough games lately due to foul issues, had some success in this one, especially when Bam Adebayo sat out. Collins was enjoying the game with backup center and former Spur Dewayne Dedmon. With the game constantly changing ahead, it was Tre Jones who scored 5 points in the final stretch to keep Spurs in front before halftime; 59-57.
One of the main reasons Spurs earned their first win in 11 tries on Thursday against the Rockets was due to a big third quarter, but unfortunately they weren’t able to replicate that as they started slowly in the second half. Partly due to their slow start, Tyler Herro went on fire hitting four threes in the opening minutes of the frame. Luckily for the Spurs, Keldon Johnson, who came out of his nearly month-long slump against the Rockets, continued his momentum by allowing the game to come his way. KJ was relentless attacking the rim and the Heat couldn’t stop him without fail. With growing frustration for Miami as they were unable to pull away from the rebuilding Spurs, Erik Spoelstra turned to sniper Duncan Robinson to give them a spark. But for the Heat, it didn’t work out, as Robinson not only couldn’t hit a shot, but the Spurs chased him down on offense and scored. With that, San Antonio moved into fourth place 86-84.
It was a quick start for the fourth with both teams running on the floor and moving the ball well to look good. For Miami, it was Jimmy Butler who took charge of their offense and did a good job of getting into his spots and making Spurs pay when they brought in a second defender. For the team on the road, it was Romeo Langford who kept the game close as he scored at will by attacking Tyler Herro, who had no answer to stop the fourth-year swingman. With the game on the line and the win on the line, Devin Vassell stepped up to hit two huge mid-range jumpers in a row to give Spurs the lead, who then got the stops they needed defensively to achieve victory. and return to San Antonio winner by 4; 115-111.
Game Notes
- Devin Vasell. After missing the contest with the Rockets with knee pain and doubting whether to play in this one until the end, Devin Vassell played a really, really solid game. He came off the bench most likely due to one-minute restrictions as the knee recovers, but that didn’t stop Vassell from making an impact in this game. He scored 10 points in the second quarter as he began to carve out the defense before closing out the game with the aforementioned two clutch jumpers. 18 points overall but more importantly, it looks like Spurs have found their closest.
- Romeo Langford. If it hadn’t been for those last two Devin jumpers, the title of this recap would probably have been something like ‘Romeo Langford’s show in Spurs win over Heat’ because that’s how Romeo was impressive against Miami. Langford, who has shown since joining Spurs last February that he is one of this team’s most elite defenders, has slowly but surely begun to complete his attacking game. And tonight, he hit his career-high 19 points, displaying rim-attacking aggression, soft-touch floats and a catch-and-shoot corner three. Romeo, who will become a restricted free agent this summer, is beginning to advocate for Spurs to keep him for the long term.
- Team effort. When you don’t have an “All-NBA”, “All-Star” caliber player, to win games in this league you have to do it as a team, and in this contest, that’s exactly what Spurs did. They had 6 players in double figures, 5 players with 2 or more assists and 8 players with four or more rebounds. Real teamwork on both sides of the Silver & Black.
game of the night
Who else? What else? Why else?
Next game: Vs Cavaliers on Monday
After a quick one-game road trip, the Spurs return to the AT&T Center to take on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers.