The San Antonio Spurs slipped to a shock defeat to the New York Knicks at MSG on Tuesday night, and coach Gregg Popovich was far from impressed with his team.
The NBA’s worst team sealed an OT win over the defending champions with Alexey Shved scoring 21 points while rookie Langston Galloway added a career-high 22 points for the Knicks to give the home crowd something to cheer about this season.
However, Popovich pulled no punches on his players in his assessment after the game and slammed their approach and their inability to execute.
Tony Parker scored 21 points, but he made the Spurs’ only basket in OT as their poor passing and disappointing shooting saw them slip to just their second loss in nine games.
Elsewhere, there were wins for both the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers over the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets respectively.
Donatas Motiejunas scored 23 points for the Rockets as James Harden was held to just 17, while Blake Griffin is ever improving as he filled the stat line with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists after returning from injury.
However, perhaps the biggest win of the night came in New Orleans as the Pelicans defeated the Milwaukee Bucks by a point to move to 37-30 for the season and tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Anthony Davis had 20 points and 12 rebounds in another important performance, and revealed after the game that it felt like a playoff encounter given the intensity and physicality from the Bucks.
It was a significant win for the Pelicans who have the more difficult schedule down the stretch compared to OKC, but with Davis leading the charge, they will be confident of pulling it off.
NBA Results
Memphis Grizzlies 95-105 Detroit Pistons
San Antonio Spurs 100-104 New York Knicks OT
Orlando Magic 94-107 Houston Rockets
Milwaukee Bucks 84-85 New Orleans Pelicans
Charlotte Hornets 92-99 Los Angeles Clippers
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