At halftime of the Spurs’ rodeo trip opener in Atlanta on Friday, DeMar DeRozan had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists.
He was the only Spurs player in at least the past 20 years to hit those thresholds in a half.
Only one thing stood between DeRozan and his second career triple-double: The Spurs were just too good in the third quarter.
Already ahead by 29 points after a blowout second quarter, the Spurs finished off the Hawks in the third before turning the game over to the end of the bench in a 125-114 victory at State Farm Arena.
The Spurs outscored Atlanta 41-19 in the second quarter and 33-24 in the third, pushing their lead as high as 41 points at one juncture.
The Spurs led 110-72 after three quarters.
That cushion proved so wide the Hawks could outscore the Spurs’ deep bench unit 41-15 in the fourth quarter and it still was a Spurs double-digit victory.
Coach Gregg Popovich called the Spurs’ fourth-quarter woes “an embarrassment.”
Despite that, the Spurs won their rodeo trip opener for the first time since 2018.
DeRozan made what amounted to a second-half cameo, finishing with 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds without touching the court in the fourth.
He was one of seven Spurs players to score in double figures, including the entire starting lineup.
It added up to a resounding victory that got the Spurs off to a good start on their seven-game trip, which proceeds to Charlotte on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from Friday night, which ended with the Spurs moving to 4-0 against the Eastern Conference:
Derrick White appears entrenched as a starter
The 26-year-old guard, who has missed 20 games this season because of a spate of left foot injuries, returned to the active list after a one-game hiatus and immediately returned to the starting lineup.
White ended with 11 points, four assists, a steal and a block in 17 minutes.
It was what White did defensively when paired with point guard Dejounte Murray that helped the Spurs grab control early.
Hawks star Trae Young came into the night averaging 30 points and 10 assists in his past 10 games. With Murray and White taking turns hounding him, Young ended with 25 points and only three assists in 23 minutes.
Young had 17 of those points in the first quarter, which on paper appears gaudy. However, only three of them came with Murray and White on the floor.
When the game was still in doubt, the Spurs’ best defensive backcourt helped keep Young from taking over.
This marked the second time White has started alongside Murray this season. The other came Monday in a victory over Golden State in which the Spurs limited the Warriors to 100 points.
Dating to last season’s Orlando, Fla., bubble, the Spurs are 7-2 when Murray and White start next to each other.
Jakob Poeltl has become a defensive menace
Another game, another block party for starting center du jour Jakob Poeltl.
Making his fifth consecutive start in place of the injured LaMarcus Aldridge, Poeltl swatted another three shots Friday, to go with three steals, 14 points and 12 rebounds.
It was Poeltl’s third double-double of the season and second in the past three games.
The blocks are again coming in bunches for Poeltl, who led the Spurs with 95 last season.
After logging only three blocks in his first 10 games, Poeltl has been a rejection machine lately, logging 16 in six February contests.
The 7-foot Austrian is again leading the Spurs in blocks with 36, more than double the 16 registered by the second-place Aldridge.
Poeltl’s rim protection has been key to the Spurs’ surge into the top 10 of the NBA defensively, and he was big again Friday.
The fourth quarter counts too
Thanks to the good work the Spurs did early, notching a season scoring high in the first half, Popovich was able to give his regulars a breather in the fourth quarter.
That was the good news.
The bad news? Those deep bench players did not exactly make the most of their unexpected batch of playing time.
While Atlanta bench warmers Skylar Mays (20 points) and Brandon Goodwin (13 points) helped the Hawks make the final score seem respectable, the Spurs third unit wilted.
The 42 points Atlanta scored in the fourth were the most the Spurs had allowed in any frame this season.
The Spurs, meanwhile, were 3 of 17 from the field with seven turnovers, and could not stop fouling. The Hawks were 12 of 16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, after the Spurs had kept that part of Atlanta’s arsenal under wraps to that point.
Third-string point guard Quinndary Weatherspoon — in a feat that feels almost unfathomable — committed six fouls and fouled out in 10 minutes.
His early ouster with 1:54 remaining ended up being Keldon Johnson’s gain.
Popovich brought in his starting forward to finish out the game. Johnson ended up making a pair of free throws to reach his fifth 20-point outing of the season.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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