Spurs Building 'Good Habits' in Wins vs. Thunder, Pacers
The San Antonio Spurs ended their nine-game Rodeo Road Trip, returned to the Frost Bank Center, and beat the playoff-bound Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers.
After a woeful road trip that saw the Spurs only win one game, the team playing in San Antonio looks like an entirely different animal. They are playing faster, smarter, and just generally better. Maybe it's the return home that has helped them out, or maybe it's an overdue lesson finally learned.
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Whatever the reason is, fans have plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
Keldon Johnson suggested that the Spurs emphasized defense and staying competitive against the Pacers, focusing on shutting down their high-powered offense.
"That's a really good team," said Johnson. "A really amazing offensive team. We just tried to make our presence known throughout the whole game. We had a big emphasis on starting off strong and getting to a great start."
The Spurs started the game on a 23-11 run and managed to keep the Pacers at bay throughout the night. Indiana made it close before halftime and briefly took the lead in the third quarter, but the Spurs remained poised.
After multiple weeks of losing their composure and letting games slip away, it was refreshing to see the Spurs maintain a solid effort that resulted in a win.
Johnson was benched last week against the Utah Jazz for boneheaded play, and he admitted that the lesson was learned and ultimately benefitted the team.
"We're just trying to build good habits," he said. "You learn a lot of things when you lose close games."
The Spurs have done their fair share of losing this season, and don't expect them to win out during the final stretch, but the young team is playing with a newfound energy and effort that should propel them into the offseason.
