The Spurs put together another win tonight to wrap up the preseason with a perfect 5-0 record, but the Pacers made them work for it by playing tough defense and hitting their shots in a closely played first half. Coach Lloyd Pierce, subbing out for Rick Carlisle, rested his starters at halftime, and the Spurs followed suit a few moments later. The Spurs are a deep team this year, and their bench is better than the Pacers bench, and they were able to gain separation in the third quarter, leading to a fourth quarter dominated by the Spurs’ third string lineup, along with Carter Bryant, who continues to impress with his athletic play on both sides of the court. Garbage time was dominated by David Jones-Garcia who will be spending most of his time in Austin this year, with some nice play from Micah Potter, who won’t be on the roster in a few days. The final score was 133-104, but it was a lot closer than that before the Pacers took their starters off the floor. It was a good contest for the Spurs as they had to play hard to keep the game under control early.
Well, that’s it for the preseason, and it’s been a promising run. The Silver and Black has looked very good for a couple of weeks, but when they face the Mavericks and Cooper Flagg next Tuesday night, both teams will be 0-0, and we will see Mitch Johnson and Jason Kidd play their regular rotations for 48 minutes. This is the first season in almost 30 years that the Spurs have started with a new head coach, and although Mitch is a Pop disciple, he’s going to do things his own way, and that’s going to be interesting to watch. The Spurs won’t be at full strength for at least a few weeks as De’Aaron Fox, Jeremy Sochan, and now Lindy Waters III will not be ready at the start of the season. This is a team that might get better as the season goes on, but an opening win would be a treat for Spurs fans everywhere.