Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Jared Weiss: Keldon Johnson recited an ancient Popovichian proverb when asked about the Spurs' league-best sixth 5-game winning streak since the start of last season. “It's just a testament of pounding the rock. We continue to pound the rock. We continue to stay with it and, I mean, the tide turned.”
Tom Orsborn: Those stitches inside Keldon’s mouth did not quiet him down this morning, Devin Vassell said: “I love KJ. He's still KJ no matter what. If he has broken ribs, broken bones, it don't matter. He's still the loudest one out here. You got to love it.”
Tom Orsborn: Keldon Johnson (mouth laceration) and De’Aaron Fox (wrist) are both participating in shooting drills here in Austin at the end of shootaround. #Spurs listed them as questionable yesterday for tonight vs. Houston.
Jared Weiss: De'Aaron Fox is listed as questionable (right wrist sprain) for tomorrow's Austin game between the Spurs and Rockets. Keldon Johnson is also questionable after getting stitches for a deep laceration inside his cheek. Tobias Harris remains out with a left calf strain and Jayden Quaintance's return from knee surgery is still unknown.
Advertisement
Tom Orsborn: A collision with SGA resulted in Keldon Johnson needing three stitches after the game to close a "really deep" cut on the inside of his right cheek. It came after he had stitches in the preseason to close a cut on his chin. #Spurs
Tom Orsborn: Keldon Johnson, Luke Kornet and Julian Champagnie have been ruled out for tonight for #Spurs vs. Suns, Mitch Johnson said. De'Aaron Fox and Carter Bryant are available.
Victor Wembanyama: “Devin’s increasing leadership role coincides with our increase as a contender. He embodies our progress and with Keldon, they are the oldest Spurs here. They know it. They know the power they got on this. They know how much they can make us better and they do it very well and very intelligently.”
“His presence has been felt already,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “You could tell he has a really, really sharp basketball mind. He really knows the game of basketball at a high level.”
NBA Trade Machine: Stephen Curry appeared in 8.9% of trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours. Of his trades, his most common destinations were San Antonio (30.5%), Boston (13.2%), and Philadelphia (10.6%). The players traded for him most often were De'Aaron Fox (25.2%), Keldon Johnson (15.9%), and Jayson Tatum (8.6%).
Advertisement
"I feel like even up to the last buzzer, we believed we were going to win or that we were supposed to win," said NBA Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson. "We're all human. It hurts. We want to win. We're so close, but so far. We're going to continue what we do, bring our brand of basketball and correct the things we can correct going forward. I believe, one through 15, whoever steps on the court, we're going out there to get the job done."
Tom Petrini: Mitch on Keldon in Game 3: "I thought he played with really good energy. I thought he tried to rebound himself into the game and play good team defense, and that's what we need from him. We know he can score the basketball, and that will come with just minutes and opportunity, but his ability to rebound for us on both ends and be a strong team defender is what we need him to do."
Speaking to reporters at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday, Johnson made it clear he's ready to turn the page on his latest subpar outing in the first postseason of his seven-year career. "When you get in a series like this, once the game is over, you process it that night and then we come back and we break it down today," he said. "And then you got to let it go. You can't let it linger on to other games. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You got to try and stay as even-keeled as possible. "I'll correct those mistakes and be back at it tomorrow."
NBA Base: Jeremy Lin heavily criticized Mitch Johnson and the Spurs’ fourth-quarter offense in Game 1, questioning the heavy reliance on Wemby isolations and the team's rotation choices: "The focus for sure is the second half where they were minus-17, but specifically even in the fourth quarter, I didn't love the late-game offensive game plan. It was too much Wemby ISO. It just seemed like everything was difficult, everything was hard, everything was contested. Can we get him in more spontaneous, impulsive actions? Can we get him in some pin-downs? Can he set more screens? Can guards come set screens for him? It felt like every time down the floor they were giving him the ball, and KAT was doing a great job of playing defense, and Wemby was tired. So how are they able to create different actions so that the Knicks aren't seeing the same thing every single time? Another piece that's really important is Keldon Johnson, who played only eight minutes. Sixth Man of the Year, a lot of minutes went to Harrison Barnes. I'm not sure what's happening there, but there is going to be a different level of production that needs to be had from other players stepping in. Dylan Harper obviously had an amazing game, but we need the Keldon Johnsons and obviously De'Aaron Fox to be able to step up. I do think there's a lot to be said for in terms of how big that moment was for the Spurs."
