Gregg Popovich 'Proud' of Spurs Despite OT Loss vs. Mavericks
The San Antonio Spurs gave the Dallas Mavericks a decent fight Wednesday night, but they couldn't pull out a win in a 137-128 overtime loss.
Despite the loss, where both teams played without key players including Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for the Mavs and Jeremy Sochan for the Spurs, head coach Gregg Popovich took away a lot of positives from the defeat.
“They did a great job,” Popovich said. “A lot of guys got minutes. Combinations were a little strange probably, but their competitiveness and execution here and there were great. Really proud of them.”
Among those bright spots was Keldon Johnson, who scored a team-high 27 points. As one of the veteran leaders on the team, Johnson also expressed the same pride of his coach.
"I'm proud of me and my team. Obviously, as one of the older guys I feel that could have done better," Johnson said. "I feel like some shots that I missed or some turnovers that I made or some free throws that I missed, those things I usually make."
There's no such thing as a moral loss in the NBA, but the 18-51 Spurs have certainly put up poorer performances throughout the season than what they came up with on Wednesday.
Now, it's all about learning from the moment of a tight game and applying growth when it resurfaces.
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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