Spurs Use Bench-Keldon Spark, Play Sloppy Defense & Try Out Blake Wesley: 3 Takeaways
SAN ANTONIO — Facing a bottom-half Utah Jazz team seemed to be the most winnable game in a while for the San Antonio Spurs.
They'd just finished being beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in a game without Victor Wembanyama, being blown out by Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks, and fell short to the Chicago Bulls on the road.
Back at home with Wembanyama back and a motivation to not let their win streak reach five again, the Spurs took the court with a win in mind.
The starting lineups were called — without Keldon Johnson in it — the National Anthem was sung and both teams were ready. Wembanyama even won the tip, per usual. But that was all his team won that day. Besides the second quarter, at least.
Despite the loss, not everything was bad for the home-team Spurs. And more specifically, not every one.
Here are three takeaways from San Antonio's loss to the Utah Jazz.
Dec 26, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) dunks over Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio (16) in the second half at Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
1) Bench Keldon Is An Early Success
Moving to the bench as the resident "best player" isn't an easy thing to do.
For years prior to Victor Wembanyama's arrival, Keldon Johnson was the face of a struggling franchise. He did what he could alongside many other big names throughout his tenure in San Antonio, but nothing quite fell their way.
That was supposed to change when a 7-4 rookie came to town, but just like the years prior, it didn't. It hasn't. Not yet, at least.
Johnson entered the season ready to prove the doubters wrong about his game, and more specifically, his defense. He wanted to show that he was a capable defender as well as a scorer, which was already known. And this season, that's rung true.
But not in the way most were expecting.
Johnson has been the on-court leader he was expected to be. He hasn't been the unrivaled best player on the Spurs, but he's shown up when called upon and played his heart out —all while remaining positive.
In the most recent wave of changes, Johnson has moved to the bench, and will remain there for the immediate future. But as strange as the idea sounds — though Gregg Popovich doesn't think so — it's worked.
In the two games that Johnson has come in with the second unit, he's averaged 21 points, 2.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds. He made multiple shots from behind the arc in each game and played solid minutes even without the starting nod. It hasn't yet translated into wins, but that's been the story of the young Spurs this entire season.
They're improving, adjusting and playing hard when they need to. Johnson — an unequivocal leader for the Spurs — is a prime example of that.
2) Non-Sloppy Offense ≠ Non-Sloppy Defense
The Spurs looked strong against the Jazz to start the game.
After taking a starting role in place of Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie found his groove early on and made Utah pay for leaving him open. He hit two 3-pointers and a pair of driving layups en route to a quick 10 points, and combining that with Wembanyama's 3-pointer and block made it look like San Antonio would be hot all night.
That wasn't the case, however.
As San Antonio began to cool off from the floor, Utah began to work itself back into the game. Between Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen and Colin Sexton, Utah took advantage of the Spurs' cold streak. San Antonio didn't give up many turnovers and shot fairly well, despite the cold stretches, so it wasn't the offense's issue.
It was defense.
Utah had its way all night through its star players. The Jazz slightly out-rebounded their hosts and played on-par in most other stats, but the difference was created in shot percentage. Utah shot nearly 50 percent on the night and nearly 40 from behind the arc, which out-matched San Antonio. Greatly by the end of the game.
The Spurs might not have been cold offensively. They got production from Wembanyama and plenty of others, but not enough. Strong offense doesn't translate into strong defense on its own.
That was clear Tuesday night.
3) Blake Wesley's Surprising Spark
Non-rotational players haven't gotten their chance to shine nearly as much as they would have last season.
Between Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, the Spurs' frontmen are covered. Adding Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Cedi Osman and the bench is solid, too. So where do the others fall?
Besides the non-star starters like Malaki Branham, Julian Champagnie — sometimes — and even Jeremy Sochan, players with two-way deals and G League assignments haven't gotten too much game action.
That's changed over the last few games, however.
Sidy Cissoko got a strong amount of minutes against Dallas, giving him a chance to show off his potential, but against Utah, it was Blake Wesley.
The second-year Spurs guard notched just his ninth appearance with 10 minutes Tuesday, marking the second straight game he's played in double-figure minutes this season. He wasn't lighting up the stat sheet, but his presence and quickness were certainly felt.
In the time he was on the court, Wesley notched an And-1 bucket, a pair of rebounds and four assists. He was a strong addition and certainly a silver lining to an otherwise disappointing showing from the Spurs, which is a good start.
Now, it's up to Popovich to decide if what he saw is worth continued playing time.
