A 114-110 loss to the Chicago Bulls continued a course the San Antonio Spurs would like to end. They've lost five games since just before Christmas. Every one of them came down to final minutes or overtime. Following Tuesday's loss in the Windy City, Chris Paul's frustration showed right from the first answer of his post-game media session.
“Sooner or later we're going to get tired of it,” the future Hall-of-Famer said of yet another close loss.
“We've just got to figure out how to win these games because we work too hard, play too hard and give ourselves an opportunity night in and night out that we've got a find a way to win these games,” Paul continued.
The Spurs have won three games in the midst of this related stretch, two of them by comfortable margins. That didn't seem to matter much to the point guard following a setback in which they blew a 19-point lead to a sub .500 team.
Spurs struggles in recent close games
San Antonio headed into Philadelphia on December 23rd with a two-game winning streak. In a sign of things to come, the Spurs lost a late fourth-quarter lead and lost to the 76ers 111-106.
“That's what's happened in a few games,” Paul said Monday.
On Christmas Day, the Silver and Black let go of a seven-point advantage in the final period of a 117-114 outcome vs. the New York Knicks. Four nights later, they led the Minnesota Timberwolves with under six minutes left in a game they lost 112-110.
“Win and learn at the same time, that's the best way to do it,” Paul answered when asked if the losses are part of the learning curve. “Like I said early, there's no time like the present. Everybody's not guaranteed to be here next year.”
Following a big win at the Denver Nuggets on January 3, the Spurs squandered a chance the next night to take two straight from one of the Western Conference's best.
“That's it. That's what we keep talking about. We've got go figure out where we get that grit from – where we impose our will,” the 20-year veteran shared. “We've got a group of very good guys, but in order to win these games, it's just a different mentality, a switch that we've got to find and we've got to flip to where we get into these situations that other teams know what to expect, myself included. I've got to figure out how to continue to be better defensively.”
Paul didn't shy away from pointing a finger at himself after coming up short against the Bulls in a contest that had immediately followed the January 4th overtime loss to Denver.
“Down the stretch again, we've got go back look at it and figure out what I could've done better, probably got us better shots. It's tough.”
The 39-year-0ld's suggestion? He invoked the Spurs Hall of Fame coach. Though Paul didn't know it at that particular moment.
In discussing how the #Spurs can try to cure the ills that have plagued them recently, Chris Paul invokes Pop.
Without realizing it at the moment!
It all makes sense to him in the end though.
“Appropriate fear…”
Expanded thought⬇️#GoSpursGo #PorVida pic.twitter.com/JXBn1ASWXt— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) January 8, 2025
“Make sure that we have an appropriate fear is what I heard from a coach before. Go into these games confident but have the appropriate fear regardless of the other team's record.”
When told that “appropriate fear” is a term Gregg Popovich, who's out with a mild stroke suffered in early November, the first-year Spur realized the connection to former San Antonio player and assistant coach Monty Williams whom he suited for while with the Phoenix Suns.
“I played for Monty, who came from that tree too.”
Though not part of his coaching tree, Paul is now under the Popovich umbrella. Like his head coach is from afar, the 12-time All-Star is searching for a solution. Rallying his young teammates could be the start.
