Spurs rally falls short in Summer League opener against the Timberwolves

The Spurs trotted out for their first summer league game in Las Vegas sporting a strong starting 5, filled with an abundance of talent:

PG: Tre Jones

SG: Josh Primo

SF: Devin Vassell

PF: Daquan Jeffries

C: Nate Renfro

On the other end of the court the young Spurs were up against a tough and aggressive Minnesota Timberwolves squad with players such as Jaden McDaniels, Jaylen Nowell and Nathan Knight.

The Spurs got off to a strong start with Vassell hitting the first bucket of the game from downtown. At the halfway mark of the 1st the game was tied 9 apiece before the T’Wolves went on an 8-0 run to put themselves in a commanding position. This year’s second round pick Joe Wieskamp came off the bench and hit his first three of the night before a buzzer beating three by Spur Malik Newman closed the lead at the interval to two; 22-20.

The second started with a great assist by Tre Jones in transition to a cutting Jeffries, who finished well. The Spurs’ 12th pick, Josh Primo, got his first bucket of the game early in the 2nd after a little jump shot off a spin move. Two possessions later Primo added to his scoring tally hitting a three. The rest of the quarter unfortunaley was all Minnesota as they raced out to a 14 point lead before the Spurs cut it to 11 at the half time break.

The Spurs got the response they needed after the break as they went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead down. The T’Wolves were not going to back down as they countered with a 7-0 run of their own. The Spurs then got some high energy buckets as Jeffries had a huge put back dunk before a Vassell steal and breakaway layup put the Spurs right back in the contest. Towards the end of the 3rd period, Tre Jones started to take control as he was taking advantage of switch after switch to score, as he had 7 straight points for the Silver & Black. Wolves were still up 67-64 heading into the 4th.

Vassell started the 4th strong as he had 4 points to tie the game up before getting fouled on a three point shot in which ultimately led to San Antonio taking the lead. Both teams went bucket for bucket for much of the 4th before a Jefferies double clutch jumper put the Spurs up 1 with a minute and change to go. On the other end the Spurs gave up a dunk to Nathan Knight before turning the ball over and committing a clear path foul. The next time the Spurs got the ball back they were down 3 with 50 seconds to go. Jones made a great play, penetrating into the paint before kicking out to a open Vassell who knocked down a huge clutch three to tie the ball game up.

Unfortaunely this was the end for the Spurs as Knight had a tip in 2 points for the T’Wolves with 15 seconds to play before a Jones missed 3 at the end finished the Spurs off for good.

Here are some final stats from tonight:

Devin Vassell - 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals

Tre Jones - 16 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds

Josh Primo - 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals