Spurscast: Injuries, Losing Streak, 3-Point Shooting Struggles

In Spurscast episode 678, Spurscast host Paul Garcia and Project Spurs director of digital content Joe Garcia discuss: 

• The Spurs in their last 3 games
• The Spurs through 24 games
• Keldon Johnson before and after mid-November
• The Spurs’ 3-point shooting

The Spurs in their last 3 games

In their last three games, the San Antonio Spurs fell on the road in Oklahoma City, then lost to the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns in the AT&T Center. 

According to Vegas, the Spurs were expected to go 0-3 in those last three games, but, in that game against the Thunder, the Spurs had their best chance to end their 11-game losing streak when they built a 17-point lead. 

The Spurs through 24 games

Through 24 games, the Spurs are 6-18, 15th out West, and with the second-worst record in the league. If they lose three games in a row, they'll have a new franchise record 14-game losing streak. The Spurs rank 29th offensively and 30th defensively through 24 games. 

Keldon Johnson before and after mid-November

Digging through the data, after November 18 is when Keldon Johnson began to struggle in multiple games. There could be a culmination of factors for why Johnson began to struggle with defenses keying in on him as a go-to player, and with multiple rotation players starting to miss games due to injury. One major factor in Johnson's drop in scoring efficiency has been his struggles from the outside. 

The Spurs’ 3-point shooting

With Johnson struggling from three and Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson being on the injured list, the Spurs have been struggling from the 3-point line as a team. Lately, they're having difficulty getting over a point per shot on their wide-open three-point attempts, and defenses have started allowing more wide-open threes for San Antonio.