Inside The Spurs

21 Turnovers Cost Spurs Big, Heat Prevail at Home for Preseason Win

The San Antonio Spurs fell short again in the preseason, this time against the Miami Heat on the road as a result of self-inflicted wounds.

Matt Guzman

Oct 15, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) dunks against the Miami Heat during the second quarter at Kaseya Center.
Oct 15, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) dunks against the Miami Heat during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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Hitting the road for the first time of the preseason, the San Antonio Spurs had a goal of adding a third win to their streak of success.

Instead, they ran into a brick wall of a Miami Heat squad, conceding 21 turnovers — 15 in the first half — en route to a close 120-117 loss to fall back down to .500 on their five-game preseason slate.

"Miami is a great physicality team," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They get after you. We let that get to us."

READ MORE: Tre Jones Says Spurs Beat Jazz with Defense

From the jump, San Antonio had things going offensively. Victor Wembanyama opened the scoring for the evening with a running 3-pointer and Jeremy Sochan responded with a dunk of his own, but it wasn't long before the Heat caught up and surpassed the Spurs.

From there, it was the Silver & Black battling from behind, but its 15 first-half turnovers didn't help the case as Miami was able to stay out front and take a 10-point lead to halftime.

"We had way too many turnovers today," Sochan said. "So, it's about learning from a team like that, who's experienced and been through battles."

Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (55) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10).
Oct 15, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (55) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) during the third quarter at Kaseya Center. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Spurs, for the most part, kept up with their hosts despite self-inflicted wounds. Charles Bassey got his first NBA minutes since Dec. 10, when he suffered a torn ACL that sidelined him for the remainder of the season, and notched four points and four rebounds.

Sochan led the way with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double. Behind him was Keldon Johnson and Malaki Branham with 15 points each and Chris Paul with 13 points and five assists.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the night for San Antonio came when rookie Stephon Castle, who had a relative off day with just six points, cut through the lane late in the second quarter for a one-handed dunk over Nikola Jović.

Wembanyama had a well-rounded stat sheet as well, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and one each steal and block, but despite the all-around effort, the Spurs couldn't capitalize as Miami prevailed for its second win of the preseason, 120-117.

READ MORE: How Stephon Castle's On-Court Impact Begins Off It

With the loss, San Antonio falls to 2-2 in the preseason and now looks ahead to one final contest — again on the road — against the Houston Rockets, who are on a two-game win streak of their own.

Tipoff for that contest is set for 7 p.m. Central Thursday evening.

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Matt Guzman
MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.

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