San Antonio Spurs will be de facto the home team as they squat against Phoenix Suns on Thursday in Austin, Texas, but they will not have the game’s most popular players in their hug.
This is because the competition will be a homecoming for Suns Kevin Durant. It will mark the first time this year’s former collegiate players have played as a professional in Austin, where he played for the University of Texas 2006-07 during his lone college season.
Thursday marks the first of two matches for Spurs in Texas Capital on consecutive nights; San Antonio plays Detroit at the University of Texas’ Moody Center on Friday.
The spurs will not have Victor Wembanyama after the shocking announcement Thursday that the All-Star Center is expected to miss the rest of the season with deep vein thrombosis in its right shoulder. He had been listed as doubtful for the game because of an illness.
Durant said last week that Thursday’s game will “mean a lot” for 11 o’clock All-Star and four-o’clock NBA points champion.
“I’m excited that we have to go back to play a game with a regular season there,” Durant said. “Austin is a place where I started this journey and having so many friends and family who are still there from, what, 16, 17 years ago is quite sweet. So I appreciate the NBA to set this. This is a unique time . ”
Suns return from the All-Star break in search of a restart. Phoenix has lost three games in a row and six of the last seven, including a return of 119-111 February 12 to Houston. Durant was brilliant in defeat, scored 37 points and pulled out a team -high nine assists, but the short suns could not break their losing line.
Bol Bol added 15 points for Phoenix, who played without Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen in the second game in a back-to-back.
With 26 wins and 28 losses at the break, Sun’s plenty of work has to do during his last 28 matches.
“We have to think about the day ahead of us and try to get better,” Durant said. “And find out how to win the next match and continue from there. We expect a lot from ourselves individually, and it just has not materialized the way we want it.
“It’s been a disappointment to see us play this way.”
The spurs returns from the break and also wants to get back on track after losing three of their last four matches-senast a loss of 116-103 February 12 in Boston. De’aaron Fox led San Antonio with 23 points while Wembanyama had 17 points, 13 returns, four assists and two blocks, and Harrison Barnes chipped in 14 points in a game that Spurs struck as many as 24 points.
At 23-29, San Antonio has matched his seasonal viewing in relation to .500.
The spurs has emphasized physique and found simple pictures of crime, but they have sometimes spit – especially when law has been able to limit Wembanyama. Now the team looks to get back on track without his second year’s big man, which on average is 24.3 points, 11.0 returns and a league -leading 3.8 block per match.
Adding Fox at the time of trade was expected to help correct the ship in San Antonio, but Spurs is only 2-3 since the Mercurial Guard was added to the lineup.
“Many things we preached and many things that when we have had rough notes they have been a common theme, so we have to improve some of these areas,” said interim coach Mitch Johnson. “The team has made huge progress in their texture and their maturity and tried to play and drive in what we ask.
“Every time you improve, expectations come with it. Every time you add a good player, expectations come with it. And I think we will be stubborn and not skip steps and trust that we will go to this correctly . ”
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