Scott Wachter-Imagn Images After a great first half by the Spurs, the Grizzlies dominated the last two periods and secured the win. The Spurs missed the opportunity to get a quality win against a contender. Despite leading by 12 at the half, they couldn’t hold off the Grizzlies’ comeback and lost 129-115 at home. Rookie Stephon Castle recorded a career-high 27 points but it wasn’t enough to overcome a poor defensive performance against an elite offensive team. It wasn’t the best start for the Spurs, as Victor Wembanyama fouled on the tip-off which limited him in the battle inside against Zach Edey. Victor couldn’t be physical to avoid committing his second foul, so the Grizzlies’ big man feasted early. Fortunately, things were going better on the other end, with the threes falling for San Antonio and the offense showing patience against a defense that was packing the paint and playing off Stephon Castle. The teams traded good stretches, with neither side dominating, but the Spurs pounced when it was Ja Morant’s time to rest. Without the star point guard leading the way and with limited opportunities to run, the visitors’ attack relied on Jaren Jackson Jr., who was neutralized by a fantastic defensive performance from Wembanyama. After trailing most of the opening frame, San Antonio closed better and led by two after one. The Grizzlies tried to up the defensive pressure to start the second, with Scottie Pippen Jr. pressuring Chris Paul, and had some momentary success. But like they did in the first quarter, the home team showed patience and resilience. The Spurs refused to get flustered, even when Memphis was getting more opportunities to push the pace later on the frame. Wembanyama remained dominant on the defensive end in the half court, there was balanced scoring and good contributions from the bench and the energy was high the entire first half. The visitors did their best to keep the lead from ballooning despite being outplayed, but San Antonio closed strong and went into the locker room with a 12-point lead. It was a strong performance that suggested the Spurs were locked in. Unfortunately, the focus only lasted one half. The strategy to leave Castle open to pack the paint worked to start the second quarter, as San Antonio struggled to get going on offense. The double-digit lead started to fade and the Spurs were lucky that the Grizzlies weren’t sharper or they would have found themselves in a hole sooner. First Devin Vassell and then Keldon Johnson tried to keep the team afloat through individual plays but the discombobulation that first manifested on offense infected the defense, and suddenly Memphis was running and finding open shooters that were raining threes. It took the visitors most of the period to tie the game, but once they did, they didn’t let off. After a dominant 43-25 third quarter, the Grizzlies were up six going into the final frame. The Spurs deserve some credit for not letting their opponent run away with the win. Castle had a great stretch early in the fourth in which he made Memphis pay for having Jay Huff guarding him by driving to the rim. Defensively the issues were harder to solve, as Jackson Jr. came alive with some buckets inside on Wembanyama and found his outside shot, dragging Victor away from the paint and opening up lanes for his teammates. The lead never got out of hand until late in the game despite some terrible execution for long stretches by San Antonio, but it always felt like the Grizzlies were in control. After completing an impressive second-half comeback against the Lakers in the previous game, the Spurs allowed one against an elite opponent that wasn’t at its best but played well enough to capitalize on some preventable mistakes. Play of the game Steph Castle is explosive off two feet. OKAY ROOK pic.twitter.com/qOX5oNIDHJ— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 16, 2025 Game notes: Victor Wembanyama struggled offensively. It’s still hard to get him good looks when opponents load up on him by ignoring a non-shooter. He did a lot as a decoy and a floor-spacer for others but the Spurs needed him to score and he couldn’t do it, finishing with 13 points on 19 shots. Defensively, he was dominant in the first half but Jackson Jr. got the best of him in the second half and the Grizzlies neutralized his rim protection by drawing him to the perimeter with shooting bigs. Castle is not afraid to let it fly, but he’ll need to make more than just two out of nine attempts to prevent opponents from putting a big on him and leaving him open. The rookie did well on drives and never seemed to get too down on himself when he was missing, which is good. The lack of range is a problem but it’s too early in his career to panic about it. Chris Paul tied a season-high four turnovers and logged just five assists. He didn’t score a lot either, finishing with eight points. Having to put Castle on the ball more to negate some of the spacing issues took the rock out of Paul’s hands, which is never ideal. The secondary scorers, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, did their job. They combined for 38 points on 25 shots and took 11 free throws. They took over for short stretches when the team needed them to. It was the second game in a row with more than 20 points for Vassell, who seems over his slump. The shooters, Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagnie, also did well on offense, combining for five three-pointers in nine attempts. The supporting pieces were mostly fine in this one, at least on one end. The non-Wemby minutes remain a huge issue for the Spurs. Charles Bassey is likely a better option than Collins, and he is productive (five points, five boards, two blocks in 11 minutes), but the team struggles with him on the floor. The front office will need to find a better backup center, either at the deadline or in the offseason, Tre Jones played 13 minutes and is averaging 16.6 per game after two years of being a starter and playing a lot more. It’s understandable, as developing Castle is a priority. Parting ways before the deadline makes a lot of sense for both the player and the team. Next game: vs. Memphis Grizzlies on Friday The Spurs will get a chance to get immediate revenge, as they will host the Grizzlies again in less than 48 hours.