Throughout his first possession as San Antonio SpurStephon Fortress caught the inbounds move, turned and scanned the ground.
Virtually cautiously, the rookie backed up his defender, then exploded on a display screen and noticed the open man: his teammate, Malaki Branham within the nook. Branham raced previous the closest defender to the brief nook, stopped and jumped.
Two factors for San Antonio and the primary scorebook complete of Fortress’s NBA profession.
So far as early performances go, Fortress’s was memorable. Regardless of a late comeback by the Spurs within the third quarter, they had been dominated by the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in a 112–107 loss.
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Within the post-match press convention, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised his younger gamers and highlighted their defensive dynamism.
“I actually loved Blake and Steph Fortress enjoying ‘D’ there, choosing on individuals,” he stated. “They’ve a fantastic mentality… I hope it conjures up different gamers.”
Fortress delivered the spotlight of the sport late within the third quarter. He caught the ball unguarded on the wing, a number of meters from the Thunder bench. In three steps and two dribbles, Fortress flew by the paint and caught the ball, one-handed, on Thunder guard Alex Ducas.
It was certainly one of many fleeting moments of promise from Fortress all through the sport, however the rookie — who scored 5 factors and had three assists — struggled to deal with the ball. He had probably the most turnovers of any Spur, six, on the night time on account of a mixture of dangerous passes, offensive fouls and roaming calls.
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General, the rookie has an extended improvement street forward of him, however he additionally has all of the assist from Popovich and the Spurs group. For him, it is a good factor.
Fortress is scheduled to play Wednesday for the Spurs of their second preseason sport in opposition to the Orlando Magic at dwelling. Announcement for this contest is at 7 p.m. Central Time.
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