Highlights: Spurs roll out balanced effort in loss to the Pelicans

Yesterday at 09:30 AM

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficult.

The Spurs found themselves living out Groundhog Day in late February with a repeat loss to the New Orleans Pelicans via giving up a late lead for the second time in as many match-ups with their Southwest Division rivals.

Devin Vassell led the team with 20 points, and De'Aaron Fox chipped in with 15 points and an incredible 6 steals for the game. Chris Paul and Bismack Biyombo each notched a double-double with Paul scoring 12 and dishing out 10 assists while Biyombo provided plus expected value on his second 10-day contract with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Fox made up for an inefficient shooting night by stealing the show with 6 swipes on the defensive end. We got a teaser of the Fox/Victor Wembanyama experience before the All-Star break, but it'll be wheels up next season seeing this duo on the defensive side with Fox assuredly taking more high risk/high reward gambles defensively knowing Wemby is patrolling the paint behind him.

Death, taxes, and Keldon Johnson taking it strong to the hoop. Also, I don't mean to get political, but fudge brownies > paying taxes. Don't flood my inbox with hate mail please, just out here providing highlights to every red-blooded American. My email is absolutively not nicoharrisonsecretspursfantogetlukatradedoutofdivision@gmail.com

Sandro Mamukelashvili came in hot from out of frame at the last minute like Sting swooping down into a triple-cage steel match at the last minute in a battle between nWo and nWo Wolfpac. I peg Mamu as a Wolfpac disciple, and there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.

Incredulously, De'Aaron Fox found Harrison Barnes in the corner for a three with this last-second dime. The former Sacramento Kings/current San Antonio Spurs teammates displayed an otherworldly display of ESP as if Fox knew all along where Barnes would set up shop and drew the defense in to get his man open.

You call it on-court chemistry, I call it . . . on-court chemistry too. I'm not here to quibble.

In this sequence, I just love how frenetic and decisive Fox is with his movement: he glides into the teeth of the defense and coolly threads the ball to an open Jeremy Sochan who almost casually lays it in like, "Yeah, I knew my PG was going to find me all along right in time before the buzzer goes off. Ho hum. Give me something more challenging: like what are the mathematical odds the Atlanta Hawks miss the playoffs, the Spurs make the play-in, aaand we get Cooper Flagg?"

De'Aaron Fox is routinely doing two-way things on the basketball court that Travis Hunter is getting extra media attention for. Fox would make a great corner back/wide receiver in the NFL, but I think few would argue he made the right decision to see how this NBA gig works out.

You can't tell, but the refs disqualified Chris Paul on this play for not taking a shot but rather passing it to an open Bismack Biyombo for the dunk. Speaking of the All-Star Skills Challenge, go back and look at Paul and Victor Wembanyama's run. I've never seen CP3 smile that big or look happier. There has to be a rule where you cannot disqualify a 20-year NBA veteran from a ceremonial exhibition event for having pure joy with his 21-year-old teammate. CHRIS PAUL WAS DRAFTED INTO THE NBA WHEN WEMBANYAMA WAS ONE-YEAR-OLD!

Almost forgot that Paul played against his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans. Well, they were the Hornets back when he ran with them, and became the Pelicans when Paul went to the Clippers. Considering they played the Phoenix Suns last week, another former team of Paul's, and they're playing the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, another former team of Paul's, don't think I forgot that Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson II won a ring with the Spurs back in 2005 either.

What does that have to do with the Pelicans, Chris Paul, or the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special that I still need to watch? Nothing. I just miss watching Victor Wembanyama play basketball. Here's wishing good health to him and Gregg Popovich.

If you missed the game because you were too busy remembering the knuckle calendar mnemonic to determine how many days February has left, here are the full-game highlights:

Next up, the Spurs head closer to home with a date in Houston to take on the Rockets on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.