The shorthanded Spurs showed fight against the star-studded Nets

The San Antonio Spurs were once again shorthanded on Monday night, but the good guys provided a tough challenge in the overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets. DeMar DeRozan led the team with 22 points and dished out 11 assists for another double-double while Lonnie Walker IV and Dejounte Murray each poured in 19 points. Jakob Poeltl also notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Dejounte Murray’s confidence and play on the court has been sky high recently, and nothing capped it better than Monday night’s throwdown with the Nets:

Popovich, probably: “OMG MANU GINOBILI WHAT-ARE-YOU-DOING-NO-WHAT-YES!”
Lonnie Walker: “But coach, I’m Lonnie!”
Popovich: “Don’t. Ever. Do that again, Manu Walker IV.”
Popovich, reluctantly: “Nice pass.”

To that point, Lonnie Walker’s game has always been smooth as cream cheese on a bagel, but the young guard has strung together some solid consistency in his recent games. Here, he’s showing off those smooth moves that would make Boris Diaw’s personal sommelier proud. And the great Boris Diaw. He’d be proud too.

No good deed goes unrewarded. Jakob Poeltl was rewarded for his offensive rebound with a gift from Murray:

DeMar DeRozan just doing what he does best: a laundry list of moves to score one-on-one. Spin cycle, hang some jerseys out to dry, and then gently lays it in the basket.

This end of regulation sequence started with the Spurs not being able to get the call for a foul on Kyrie Irving, Irving taking a shot much to Bill Land’s surprise, Dejounte Murray grabbing the rebound off of the miss and then darting up the court, James Harden clothes-lining Murray for the non-call, Murray putting up a prayer at the buzzer, incredibly draining the shot to send the game into overtime, and Sean Elliott making sure Bill Land didn’t have a heart attack. Oh Mama, indeed:

And last, but certainly never least, the full game highlights:

Next up, the Spurs go right back to work and take on the New York Knicks on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.