Game Thread: San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks

Yesterday at 06:30 PM

The Fox era begins with the Silver and Black in Atlanta

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After the Grizzlies trounced the Spurs on the first game of the Rodeo Road Trip on Monday night, the Spurs are back in action tonight, with a significant addition to the lineup. The Spurs were lacking in players that could create on offense besides Victor Wembanyama, and with De'Aaron Fox now with the team, they have the kind of quickness and offensive creativity that they haven't seen since Tony Parker left the team. Teams that have been using a full court press combined with a zone to confound and disorganize the Spurs offense could be forced to change that strategy now that they have a player that can break a press and get to the hoop before they can organize a zone on the back end.

Fox hasn't been with the team for long enough to have significant (any?) practice time, but he's talented enough to make a significant impact right away, and it will be interesting to see if he and Victor Wembanyama have immediate chemistry or if it takes a while to develop. The Spurs will be on the road for nearly a month, so it will be a while before they will get much run at practice, since NBA teams really don't have much time for practice on road trips. On this, the mother of all road trips, they are going to have to learn to play together by playing games, and it's going to be interesting to watch. Charles Bassey is out tonight with a knee sprain he suffered in the Memphis game, and with Zach Collins now in Chicago, that will force the Spurs to play small lineups, and also maybe give extended time to Sandro Mamukelashvili, who has great chemistry with Wembanyama on the court. With Chris Paul questionable with a hand injury, we could see a lot of Blake Wesley, Malaki Branham, or even get a peek at new Spurs Jordan McLaughlin, who came over in the Fox trade.

Let's welcome the Fox era and hope for a big win in his first game over Trae Young and the Hawks.

Game Prediction:

Jordan McLaughlin scores in double digits.

One final word:

GO SPURS GOOOO!!!

San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks
February 5, 2025 | 6:00 PM CT
Streaming: League Pass
TV: ESPN, Fan Duel Sports Southwest

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