A pair of teams on the outside looking in at the playoff picture in the NBA take the floor in an interconference clash down in the Sunshine State. The San Antonio Spurs are on the road as they make the trip to face the Orlando Magic in each team’s final game before Christmas Friday night. San Antonio was in action as they faced the Pelicans in the Big Easy Thursday night so they are playing the second game of a back-to-back situation here. The Spurs knocked off the Rockets 124-105 on the road, winning outright as a 4.5-point underdog, in their previous contest Monday night. Orlando picked up a 116-110 road win over Houston Wednesday night, winning outright as a one-point underdog, in their previous game. In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Spurs own a commanding 48-19 advantage and have won the last five meetings. That includes a 102-89 road win in the most r ecent matchup back on November 5, 2021.
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San Antonio was slated to be in action against the Pelicans in the Big Easy Thursday night, so they play the second game of a back-to-back situation here. The Spurs entered Thursday 10-20 and in fourth place in the Southwest Division, nine games behind the Grizzlies for the top spot. They were five games behind Minnesota for a spot in the play-in tournament. San Antonio is a dismal 1-4 in the second game of back-to-back situations this season and have been outscored by an average of 11.8 points (111 ppg for, 122.8 ppg against) in those contests. The Spurs are 5-8 on the road entering Thursday night with a -8.9-ppg scoring margin (111.2 ppg for, 120.1 ppg against) this season. San Antonio has posted a 6-3 mark against Eastern Conference teams with a -4.5-ppg scoring differential (113.4 ppg for, 117.9 ppg against) on the year.
For the year, the Spurs are 26th in the league in scoring offens e as they average 110.3 points per game on the year. San Antonio is 21st in rebounding by grabbing 42.5 boards a night while they are third in the league in assists by handing out 27.4 dimes per contest. The Spurs are 30th in the league in scoring defense as they give up an average of 119.5 points per game. Keldon Johnson leads the team with 21.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season. Devin Vassell (20 points), Jakob Poeltl (12.4 points, 9.5 boards), Tre Jones (12.4 points, 6.7 assists), Josh Richardson (10.7 points) and Doug McDermott (10.6 points) each are valuable secondary options. Zach Collins, Keita Bates-Diop, Blake Wesley, Jeremy Sochan, Romeo Langford, Charles Bassey, Isaiah Roby and Gorgui Dieng are other rotation pieces for coach Gregg Popovich. San Antonio is 20th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 46.5% from the floor on the year. The Spurs are 16th in threes per game as they connect on 11.5 triples a night while they are 19th in three-point percentage by shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc.
Johnson (back) was doubtful for Thursday’s contest after missing the game against Houston Monday night. Wesley (knee) hasn’t played since October 30 and was considered questionable for Thursday’s game. Watch for any other information regarding their statuses heading to tipoff.
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