'You Have to Fight!' Slow Night for Spurs Pair Leads to Loss Against Timberwolves

A pair of young San Antonio Spurs both had a poor night against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday evening, revealing a clear path to improvement moving forward.

Dec 8, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) dribbles in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

On Sunday night, the San Antonio Spurs took a firm loss at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves off two lackluster efforts from key players.

Devin Vassell finished with a -30 plus-minus rating and Stephon Castle ended up at -23 as the Timberwolves tucked the Spurs into bed in San Antonio. The pair finished with just six points combined — the lowest among any players with more than 10 minutes of game time.

Vassell shot 2-for-11 from the floor and went 0-for-6 from deep while not registering a single other stat. Castle ended the game 1-for-8 from the field, but did manage to scratch five assists across the sheet before play concluded.

READ MORE: Spurs Glad to Have 'Tough' Stephon Castle Back in Lineup

Considering Vassell is currently averaging over 17 points per game, his performance stood as one of the biggest missing ingredients to the Spurs' secret sauce.

Castle, though, did manage five assists. Therefore, fans might be wondering why his rating was so low for Sunday night's game. For that, the answer is simple: turnovers.

Castle ended up with three turnovers on his own without registering a steal in the process. The assist number is nice to see, but until the assist to turnover ratio remedies itself, the young Spur will still have some growing up to do in the NBA.

Dec 15, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) dribbles away from Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the second half at Frost Bank Center. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The loss pushes San Antonio back to a dead even .500 on the season at 13-13 and elevated the Timberwolves to 14-11.

The Spurs have now lost four out of their last six, three of which have come at home.

"Everyone has the right intention," Harrison Barnes said. "Guys are trying to make the right plays ... (but) when you're playing in the half court, you have to fight for details. I thought we lost those tonight."

For San Antonio, the immediate road forward doesn't get any easier, as Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks await the Spurs on December 19. That game tips off at 7 p.m. CST in San Antonio.

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