Spurs lose another heartbreaker as they fall to the Magic

02/08/2025 10:40 PM

Back-to-back nights, back-to-back one point losses

It was another night of frustration for the San Antonio Spurs after they let a late lead slip in the final seconds as they fell to the Orlando Magic 112-111 on the second night of a back-to-back.

After a poor shooting game on Friday night in Charlotte, the Spurs started red-hot from three, including a franchise-high six three pointers in the opening frame by Harrison Barnes. San Antonio were creating open looks at such a high rate that Magic Head Coach, Jamahl Mosley had to call a timeout in the opening few minutes to deliver some choice words to his team. De'Aaron Fox's impact on this team was evident early and can be seen clearly when he is attacking the hoop and forcing the defense to collapse. That was a big reason for why HB was able to hit so many triples in the first twelve minutes as he was wide open for the majority of the attempts. As much success as the Silver & Black was having on offense, it was a different equation on the other side of the floor. The Spurs lack of size on the interior was hurting them on defense and once the Magic brought a super-size lineup into the game they went on an 11-0 run and took a 32-30 lead into the second frame.

Fortunately, the Spurs hot shooting start continued into the second which helped them take a multi-possession lead. For the Magic, this was the quarter all about Franz Wagner. With their other star Paolo Banchero struggling it was the German native that was hurting the Spurs, attacking their lack of size inside the paint and then punishing the San Antonio defenders from outside the arc if they went under on the screens. Even though the visitors small lineup was getting cooked on defense they were continuing to have success of offense which boosted them to a 60-57 lead at the half.

After a good second-half against Charlotte on Friday night, Devin Vassell came into this contest with some momentum and he was playing with confidence and aggressiveness that we just haven't seen enough of lately. While, Victor Wembanyama was having the opposite problem, as he couldn't find his shot to go down. Wemby did however change his approach in the third quarter and started attacking the bucket and drawing a couple of free throws. This quarter for the Silver & Black was all about being aggressive and making plays at the rim and the third frame ended with and-one plays by both Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson. The Spurs would go into the final twelve minutes with a 88-81 lead.

It was a Castle takeover to start the fourth with some impressive drives to the rim by the rookie out of UConn. San Antonio weren't able to extend their lead due to the play of Franz Wagner for the Magic who was hellbent on not letting his team lose. Then after both teams went shot-for-shot in the final few minutes of the game, the Spurs were up one with under ninety seconds to play. Banchero hit a pull-up jumper before Wemby responded with his own mid-range j from the free throw line. Then after a controversial timeout call that Orlando got given they came out of the huddle and it was Paolo who nailed another jumper to put the home team back up by one with twenty-four seconds left on the shot-clock. On the final possession, the Spurs ran a PnR between Fox and Wemby where they got the smaller guard switched onto Vic who had the ball just inside the three-point arc. With under five seconds left, Wemby rose above the defender but his shot was off the mark and Orlando escaped with a 112-111 win and for the Spurs it was their second heartbreaking loss in as many nights.

Play of the game

Seemingly a highlight play every night for the rookie:

Game notes

• Let's talk about Victor: Yes, his sick. Yes, his gassed. Yes, his conditioning just isn't back yet, but the last few weeks has been rough for Wemby. If you don't follow the games and just look at the numbers you would think everything is just fine, but it's not and the Spurs are losing games because of it. Vic's defense is not anywhere close to where it was prior to the Nuggets back-to-back at the beginning of 2025. He looks gassed, and the Spurs opponents see it too, because opposing players are not afraid to attack the rim as much anymore like we have been use to seeing. Offensively, with little energy he is settling for way too many jumpers and because he doesn't have his legs underneath him, a lot of them are short. He needs a break to get back to feeling healthy and he won't get much of that during All-Star weekend as he will be a big part of the festivities, so it may be best to give him a few days before then and let him miss the Washington and Boston games. Then hopefully after the All-Star break we see the Top-10 player that we have watched for 90% of the season so far.
• Let's talk about CP3: Chris should get a lot of credit for the Spurs improvement this season. He has been a true pro's pro and the future hall of famer has certainly left his mark on this young ball club, but now the Silver & Black have De'Aaron Fox. The two can simply not play together. The Spurs are just too small and are getting destroyed on the glass and teams are hunting Paul defensively. At 39-years-old he just can't keep up anymore playing thirty minutes a night. With Stephon Castle's improvement and hypothetical fit next to Fox and the fact those two are big parts of the future for the Spurs, it's time to make the change and have CP3 come off the bench. If CP doesn't want too, that's fine and fair, considering he was most likely promised a starting role when he signed with the franchise in the summer. Thank him and then release him, let him go compete for a ring and continue building around your core pieces to build chemistry for the next few years when you will be back in the playoffs.
• Spurs player of the game: Devin Vassell; 25 points (11/14, 3/4), 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 0 turnovers in 33 minutes.

Next game: @ Washington on Monday

In the Spurs penultimate game before the All-Star break they take on the Washington Wizards. In the reverse matchup earlier this season, Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 50 points.