Spurs ‘Fantastic’ in Losses to LeBron’s Lakers, Says Gregg Popovich - Here’s Why

“They have got great character,” coach Popovich said of his undermanned Spurs roster gave effort against the Lakers. “They were fantastic. I am proud of them.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are far from healthy, record-wise … though three games in a week against the struggling San Antonio Spurs provided a “get-well card” of sorts.

Nevertheless, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich comes away from the latest bout with the Lakers and LeBron James (who scored a season-high 39 points as the Lakers won 143-138) bursting with Spurs pride.

“They have got great character,” Popovich said of his undermanned roster. “They were fantastic. I am proud of them.”

The Spurs dropped to 6-15, with a trio of failures against LA looming large. But Spurs like Keldon Johnson (26 points), Tre Jones (career-highs with 23 points and 13 assists, and Devin Vassell (20 points) kept trying to make it a game until the end.

The Lakers are just 7-11, and given their roster of marquee stars, that’s a major Hollywood flop.

But in San Antonio? The Spurs began the season 5-2, the second-best start through seven games in franchise history. San Antonio has since gone 1-13 and now ranks 14th in the Western Conference standings. The eight-game losing streak they are on is now tied for the fourth-longest slide in franchise history. The longest losing streak in team history is 13 games.

So ... There is no “marquee.” There is just teaching, learning, trying.

“They just keep playing,” Pop said of his guys. “It doesn’t matter what the score is, or who is there or who is not there. They are unbelievably coachable, and they are trying very hard to do what we want them to do.”

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