Frustrated Gregg Popovich says ‘nobody’s going to rest’ in final 2 games after Spurs' loss
The San Antonio Spurs have nothing left to play for in their final two games as they’re locked into the No. 2 seed in the West. Sounds like a perfect time for the master of resting his players – Gregg Popovich – to get his guys a breather before the postseason ramps up.
But after the Spurs’ 98-87 loss to the Clippers on Saturday, Popovich said “nobody’s going to rest” in the team’s final two games against the Blazers and Jazz – two teams that are still battling for playoff position.
"Our execution at both games, defensively and offensively, was very poor," Popovich said, via ESPN. "Nobody's going to rest. Everybody's going to play. We already rested everybody, and we have days in between now. It's like the playoffs, kind of. There's no back-to-backs. There's no bad travel or anything like that, so it's time for rhythm and that sort of thing. Hopefully we'll play better next week."
Popovich pointed out how the Clippers, who are battling the Jazz for home-court advantage in the first round, were much more physical than the Spurs, who have lost two of their past three games.
"They were more aggressive than we were," Popovich said. "They wanted the game more. We were aggressive, got into them and showed the physicality and communication necessary to win against a good team for about six minutes of the third quarter, and that was that. We didn't have enough physical toughness to compete with them."
The Spurs better be prepared for a physical brand of basketball when they take on the Grizzlies in their first-round matchup. San Antonio is 2-2 this season against Memphis and needed overtime to edge the Grizzlies at home last week.
