Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, their longest skid since he took over as the team’s coach more than 20 years ago.
With little resistance at the defensive end of the court from San Antonio on Wednesday, the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal shot nine-for-nine in a 21-point third quarter en route to scoring 33 in all, and the lowly Wizards beat the Spurs 138-132.
“All in all, if you score 132 points, you should probably have a pretty good chance to win a game. The bad news is, if you give up 138, you are not going to win,” Popovich said during a brief-as-can-be post-game session. “I’m a really smart guy. I’m figuring that’s logical. I could be wrong... There’s not much else to say.”
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
It is the Spurs’ worst stretch since they had a pair of droughts that lasted seven and eight games in the 1996-1997 season, when David Robinson got injured and Popovich moved from the front office to the sideline about a quarter of the way through the season.
The San Antonio Spurs have made the playoffs in each of the past 22 seasons, claiming five NBA championships in that time.
Put simply, the Spurs are not used to this sort of lose night-after-night thing.
“The streak that we’re on, every single game we’ve lost feels worse than the last game,” said DeMar DeRozan, who led San Antonio with 31 points, but missed a pair of free throws with 9.9 seconds left.
The Spurs fell to 5-10, despite being ahead 69-63 at halftime and having eight players score in double figures.
That included Patty Mills, who made his first start of the season and began the night six-for-six from the field, but missed his next four shots and finished with 16 points.
“We’ve just got to stay positive. We’ve got to stick together,” Mills said.
Davis Bertans, acquired by Washington from San Antonio in the off-season, and Ish Smith each racked up 21 points for the Wizards, who came into the game with a 3-8 record, the worst mark in the NBA Eastern Conference.
San Antonio led by 10 before Beal scored nine points in a 22-3 spurt over about five minutes into the third quarter that put the Wizards out in front 94-85.
It was quite a turnaround for Beal, who went just three-for-nine in the first half.
“Brad took over and he’s hard to stop,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said.
Also on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Clippers 107, Celtics 104
‧ Mavericks 142, Warriors 94
‧ Bucks 135, Hawks 127
‧ Heat 124, Cavaliers 100
‧ Jazz 103, Timberwolves 95
‧ Nets 101, Hornets 91
‧ Bulls 109, Pistons 89
‧ Sixers 109, Knicks 104
‧ Nuggets 105, Rockets 95
‧ Raptors 113, Magic 97
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