Multiple career highs and four 20-point outings did not add up to a victory for the Sixers on Friday night in San Antonio.
The Spurs pulled out a 128-120 win at Frost Bank Center. They improved to 30-39 and the Sixers fell to 23-47.
San Antonio’s top scorer was Jeremy Sochan with 23 points. Rookie guard Stephon Castle tallied 17 points and 14 assists.
For the Sixers, Quentin Grimes posted 25 points and a career-best 10 assists. Justin Edwards also put up 25 points, which is tied for the most he’s scored in a game his rookie year.
Ricky Council IV set a new career scoring high, adding 20 points. Guerschon Yabusele had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Sixers were still heavily shorthanded. Lonnie Walker IV returned from a four-game absence with a concussion. However, according to the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast, Walker was ruled out at halftime because of a mild headache.
The Spurs’ sidelined players included star center Victor Wembanyama, who’s out for the rest of the season because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The Sixers will finish their six-game road trip with games Sunday against the Hawks and Monday against the Pelicans.
Here are observations on their loss to the Spurs:
Edwards’ steady scoring
In their 70th game of the season, the Sixers used a 46th starting lineup.
After his 14-point, 15-rebound night Wednesday in the Sixers’ loss to the Thunder, Chuma Okeke started next to Jared Butler, Grimes, Edwards and Yabusele.
The Sixers were the sharper team out of the gates. They played active defense, forced turnovers and profited in transition. Butler’s fast-break three-pointer gave the Sixers an early 15-6 lead.
Edwards posted five of the Sixers’ first seven points with a put-back layup and corner three. He’s scored smoothly and consistently on this road trip, hitting double figures in all four contests. The rookie wing has generally taken sensible shots while also increasing his aggression for an extremely undermanned team.
Over his past three games, Edwards has totaled 62 points and gone 23 for 43 from the floor (53.5 percent).
Grimes and Yabusele making plays
The Spurs eventually got rolling. The Sixers took plenty of hasty jumpers in the first half and missed many, opening 3 for 16 from long range.
They also committed 10 first-half turnovers. The Sixers were whistled for an eight-second violation after Walker couldn’t handle Blake Wesley’s backcourt pressure. A Wesley corner three built San Antonio’s lead to 42-32.
The Sixers’ offense suddenly looked far more crisp when Grimes took charge. He had five assists in the first half, including a drive-and-kick dish to set up a Walker three.
Like Grimes, Yabusele has a knack for finding savvy ways to create open looks out of stagnant situations. He fed Grimes on a backdoor cut late in the second quarter and the 24-year-old guard slammed home a dunk before Sochan could recover.
Offensive magic runs out
Chris Paul canned four three-pointers early in the third quarter and the Spurs extended their advantage to 16 points.
Not much was working for the Sixers’ defense, which has conceded 132.5 points per game thus far on the road trip.
Led by Grimes, the Sixers made a big run back. Grimes poured in 10 straight points, converting three layups, a three-pointer and a free throw. He’s been great this month at attacking constantly and going directly at any defense on its heels.
Council drilled a three late in the third quarter to put the Sixers in front. Two nights after shooting 1 for 11 from the floor against the Thunder, Council had a strong, very efficient night. Over two career appearances in San Antonio, Council has scored 31 points on 10-for-14 shooting.
The Spurs went down 117-111 on an Okeke three, but they responded with a 10-0 spurt.
The Sixers’ offense grew shaky. The team committed two shot-clock violations, one of which came when Grimes air balled a deep, desperate three. Grimes threw a loose perimeter pass that Sochan picked off and turned into a slam on the other end.
Though Grimes made a triple to cut his team’s deficit to one point, the Sixers then left Harrison Barnes wide open. He nailed a crucial corner three and the Sixers wound up losing on a night they shot 56.8 percent from the field and received four excellent offensive performances.
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