Jeremy Sochan had himself a night against the Pelicans

The good guys got a breakout game from Jeremy Sochan, but the team’s slow start was too insurmountable against the New Orleans Pelicans. Sochan led the Spurs with 23 points. Tre Jones poured in 19 while Josh Richardson had 14 points off the bench.

Rookie Jeremy Sochan had a career night in scoring. His relentless motor was on display here when he followed up his own miss with a well-earned and-1.

Sochan has yet to register a double-double, but his play is trending towards notching his first double-double sooner than later. Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Coach Popovich really wants to make point-forward Sochan a thing, and plays like this support that move. Here, the rookie sensation showed off his playmaking ability by finding a cutting Romeo Langford for an easy bucket.

Sochan’s 6 assists for the night was also a career high. As he gets more comfortable getting his teammates more scoring opportunities, the sky’s the limit for the Spurs lottery pick.

“But does Sochan shoot threes?”

Yes and no. Yes he shoots threes, and no he does not shoot that many threes. For the season, the former Baylor Bear only has 11 made threes, but he does seem to be more confident and hopefully will let it fly more often as his game continues to grow.

Devin Vassell found other ways to contribute on Thursday night by grabbing 9 rebounds and adding 3 steals. This particular play, however, served as a reminder of how Vassell has stepped up his scoring and mid-range game this season. Better days are ahead for the young, budding Spur.

Stanley Johnson climbed a mountain to garner this running hook off the glass. The other Johnson continued to impress, scoring 12 points after contributing 10 points against the win against the Houston Rockets in the last game.

The 7th year player has soaked up some minutes for the Spurs in the last two games as a fill-in for several injuries on the roster.

Sochan peddled his way to the basket on some fancy footwork reminiscent of the great Manu Ginobili, who is probably still celebrating Argentina’s big World Cup win.

Vassell threads the needle with this gorgeous lead pass to a streaking Sochan for the finish. Good things happen when the young guns come out blazing across the court.

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

Happy Holidays Spurs fans! Stay warm and enjoy this time of year. If you’re Jonesing for Christmas movies to binge in this cold, windy weather, you cannot go wrong with “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” and “Love Actually.” If those films are too saccharin for you, you can always also try “Trading Places” and “Batman Returns.”

Next up, the Spurs head out further east to Orlando to take on the Magic on Friday, December 23, 2022.