After watching their 11-game winning streak come to an end over the weekend, the San Antonio Spurs will attempt to start a new streak Tuesday when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers.
San Antonio’s hot stretch included three straight victories to open its current five-game road trip. However, the team hit a speed bump Sunday in a 114-89 pounding at the hands of the New York Knicks.
The Spurs led by double digits in the first quarter before the Knicks went on a 26-2 run to take control of the game. San Antonio managed only 41 first-half points and finished the contest shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 9 of 34 from 3-point range.
“It’s going to test your poise, composure,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s going to test your physicality and mettle. … So, there’s things to improve upon, there’s things to learn from and there’s things just to understand that this is what (losing is) going to feel like.”
Johnson wants to see his team display a more energetic style, beginning with Tuesday’s affair.
“I think if you watched us even a little bit this year, the best version of us is fast, activity, space, pace,” Johnson said, “whether that’s ball movement, body movement or a combination of.”
Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 25 points and 13 rebounds against New York, while Devin Vassell chipped in with 18 points. The other three starters — De’Aaron Fox, Julian Champagnie and Stephon Castle — combined to shoot 9 of 27 from the field.
“I think it’s good for us to see this kind of adversity,” Wembanyama said. “We want to play the best teams. This is a top-seeded playoff team, experienced. They know what it’s like, and they gave us a good showing.”
Wembanyama and the Spurs catch a break on Tuesday as Joel Embiid will be out once again with an oblique strain.
Without their starting center, the Sixers absorbed a 114-98 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Andre Drummond started in Embiid’s place and went for 10 points and 12 rebounds, but Tyrese Maxey shot just 12 of 34 from the floor as part of a teamwide 39.8 percent shooting performance.
“I don’t think we made enough shots on offense,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought the offense generated a lot of good looks. I thought we had good chances. But we didn’t make enough of them.”
VJ Edgecombe (8 of 21) also struggled from the floor as Philadelphia had its three-game winning streak halted.
“It’s March,” Maxey said. “All of these games count. This is the real deal. It’s go time. This was a good game and a good test for us, honestly. … But we’ll get another chance in a couple of days. And San Antonio will be a good test for us.”
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Sixers will visit the Spurs on April 6.
Philadelphia has won 13 of the last 16 matchups with San Antonio.
