Why Gregg Popovich was full of ‘joy’ despite Spurs loss to Nuggets

The Spurs players took cues from their coach in describing the close loss in Denver.

“Everybody is not good because we lost, but Pop said, we played great,” guard Malaki Branham said.

The former Ohio State Buckeye has been inserted into the starting line-up for Devin Vassell, who averaged 19.5 points per game before being sidelined for the rest of the season this past weekend due to a right foot injury.

“Just a few mistakes. Shot 50 percent from the free throw line, missed a couple of easy ones, just stuff like that kind of trickled down to the end of the game,” Branham continued.

Jeremy Sochan, a starter who’s also out for the year, and Keldon Johnson, who’s third on the team in points with just under 16 per contest, didn’t play either on Tuesday – a fact not lost on point guard Tre Jones.

“Probably the most competitive game all year long based on what we had: four guys down, some main pieces, but guys continue to step up,” the former Duke star said, alluding to Cedi Osman’s injury before halftime.

Add it all up and you get one of the most complete efforts Popovich has seen in a while.

“For 48 minutes, under difficult circumstances, these guys just played.  So many people participated. The effort for 48 was really impressive, the best I’ve seen all year and, like I said, in several years. Losing sucks. To see how far they’ve come this season is really a joy,” the legendary 75-year-old coach said.

An exhausting effort for Victor Wembanyama

In nearly knocking off a Nuggets squad that is now tops in the Western Conference, young superstar Victor Wembanyama came within a block and two assists of a quadruple-double.

“Victor, a monster game again,” Jones said of a performance that also included 23 points and 15 rebounds.

“We competed all night. We executed the game plan and just the ball didn’t bounce our way down the stretch. Proud of the guys, how we competed tonight. Defending champs, they’re gearing up for another run here so to be able to come out and compete the way we did is always good,” the former Duke Blue Devil concluded.

Wembanyama agreed.

“It’s a good fight. I think we showed some good efforts on both sides of the court. They’re an experienced team. It was tough. I’m not going to lie, I’m tired right now. It’s hard to think, but I think we did pretty good. Good performance,” the three-time West Rookie of Month winner added.

With several missing pieces, the Spurs will rely on Wemby to continue to carry that much of a load inside the final two weeks of the season.