PHILADELPHIA – After watching their 11-game NBA winning streak come to an end over the weekend, the San Antonio Spurs will attempt to start a new streak on Tuesday (Wednesday morning, Singapore time) when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers.
San Antonio’s hot stretch included three straight victories to open their current five-game road trip. However, the team hit a speed bump on Sunday in a 114-89 pounding at the hands of the New York Knicks.
The Spurs led by double digits in the first quarter before the Knicks went on a 26-2 run to take control of the game. They finished the contest shooting 41.6 per cent from the field and nine of 34 from three-point range.
“It’s going to test your poise, composure,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said of bouncing back.
“It’s going to test your physicality and mettle. So, there’s things to improve upon, there’s things to learn from and there’s things just to understand that this is what (losing is) going to feel like.”
Johnson wants to see his team display a more energetic style, beginning with Tuesday’s affair.
“I think if you watched us even a little bit this year, the best version of us is fast, activity, space, pace... whether that’s ball movement, body movement or a combination of,” he added.
Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 25 points and 13 rebounds against New York, and being the team’s star man he will once again be counted on to lead his teammates against the Sixers.
“I think it’s good for us to see this kind of adversity,” he said. “We want to play the best teams. This is a top-seeded playoff team, experienced. They know what it’s like, and they gave us a good showing.”
Some good news for Wembanyama and the Spurs is that they are likely to catch a break on Tuesday as Joel Embiid will be out once again with an oblique strain.
Without their starting center, the Sixers absorbed a 114-98 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Andre Drummond started in Embiid’s place and went for 10 points and 12 rebounds, but Tyrese Maxey shot just 12 of 34 from the floor as part of a teamwide 39.8 per cent shooting performance.
“I don’t think we made enough shots on offence,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said as he looked forward to what needs improvement against the Spurs. “I thought the offence generated a lot of good looks. I thought we had good chances. But we didn’t make enough of them.”
Philadelphia had their three-game winning streak halted.
“It’s March,” Maxey said. “All of these games count. This is the real deal. It’s go time. This was a good game and a good test for us. And San Antonio will be a good test for us.”
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Sixers will visit the Spurs on April 6.
Philadelphia have won 13 of the last 16 matchups with San Antonio. REUTERS