Four days ago, Austin Spurs guard David Jones Garcia was selected to compete in the NBA All-Star weekend’s Castrol Rising Stars game, as one of seven G Leaguers chosen for the honor.
But with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter, disaster struck for Austin’s dynamic guard as he drove to the rim and came crashing down on the floor hard. Jones Garcia writhed in pain, holding his calf and silencing the arena to end a stellar night for the young guard.
The Spurs captured some momentum after losing their teammate heading into the final quarter, but ultimately, the deficit was too much to overcome. The Spurs fell to the Stockton Kings, 119-115, Thursday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
“You never want to see anyone go down,” Spurs head coach Jacob Chance said. “I thought he was kind of finding a little bit of a rhythm. He came back in the last game from his concussion and took some possessions to get going.”
Austin and Stockton have been in tight duels dating back to last season’s G League Western Conference finals and earlier this season, with the Kings taking both matchups. Thursday proved to be the same story.
“(When) you play the team like that, you go drive up for those easy points,” Chance said. “And we just couldn’t do it for 40 minutes.”
The defending league champion Kings continued to prove why they are still the same team that won the league crown just one season ago. Stockton’s passing ability on their offensive possession kept Austin defenders on skates, creating big momentum swings in transition.
Despite the fast-paced offense, the Spurs kept up with the Kings throughout the night, and Jones Garcia’s injury near the end of the third quarter served as a rallying cry for a late-game push.
“I thought the group rallied after that,” Chance said. “They found a bit of a response, which was good (to see).”
In the fourth quarter alone, Austin put up its large point total of the game with 33 points, but Stockton never gave the Spurs too much of a leash to relinquish the deficit.
Down by one possession with under two minutes left, Spurs guard Jayden Nunn kept the ball in his hands, driving into a sea of Stockton defenders, making the layup to make it a one-point game. Then the opportunity came for Austin to regain the lead for the first time since the first quarter, in a technical foul two possessions later.
Kings’ guard DeQuan Jeffries committed a hard foul, pushing Spurs guard Kyle Mangas to the ground as Stockton approached the basket. Jeffries was immediately called for a technical foul and was ejected from the game, giving the Spurs a free throw and possession with 15 seconds left.
But with time waning on the clock and pressure mounting, Austin was unable to find the basket on its final two offensive possessions of the game after Mangas’ free throw.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Chance said. “We (were) constantly down by four points and (made) two big plays to push it back out to seven or eight. And that was what really got us.”
Austin will face the Dallas Mavericks affiliate, the Texas Legends, on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
