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SALT LAKE CITY — On Wednesday, the Salt Lake City Stars were defeated at home by the Austin Spurs, 116-104. The Stars are now 0-7 in the first month of the season.
The team shot under 40% from the floor and was 8-of-24 from behind the arc. The Stars had a tough time knocking down open shots from midrange and three point range but outscored Austin 30-24 in the paint.
Eric Griffin, the team’s leading scorer, again led the Stars with 22 points on 6-of-15, but Griffin had a slow start in the first quarter, making zero baskets on six attempted shots. Griffin dug himself out of a hole as the game went on and continued his confident play.
“It was some good shots, just wasn’t falling early,” said Griffin, “So my coach told me just keep shooting.”
Despite the loss, the Stars defense showed some bright spots during the game. The Stars had ten steals and forced the Spurs to turn the ball over 19 times. Griffin had a monster block towards the end of the game that sent the ball straight into the Austin bench.
Utah Jazz two-way player Nate Wolters started for the team and provided 14 points and seven assists to go with six rebounds. Wolters has seen time with the Jazz most recently against the Orland Magic.
The only player on the Stars to finish with a plus minus over 0 was Naz Mitrou-Long who chipped in 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Naz is a strong three-point shooter but struggled a bit outside against the Spurs. Most of his missed threes came as the Stars were trying to make a comeback late.
Rookie Kendall Pollard had a potential play of the game with a huge dunk over Austin's Livio Jean-Charles in the first quarter that had the Stars' bench and the crowd cheering and on their feet. Jean-Charles is the only player from either team who hails from Europe. Pollard played less than ten minutes and finished with four points.
PLAY OF THE GAME. 😱@__KPpic.twitter.com/bQti4t5fkv — Salt Lake City Stars (@slcstars) November 23, 2017
A lot of missed shots led to a big rebounding deficit between the Stars and Spurs. The Spurs forced bad shots and cleaned up the rebounds, hauling in 47 rebounds to just 35 from Salt Lake City. The Spurs had a great shooting night as they shot 53% from the field, and nailed 10-of-20 from beyond the arc.
“Just gotta keep fighting hard, just take open shots that’s given to us,” said Griffin, “We missed a couple easy bunnies at the rim, so that’s just part of the game.”
This is the second matchup between the Spurs and the Stars. The two teams met in the season opener in Austin, and the Stars lost that game 131-88. This matchup seemed to show the Stars are making slight improvements.
“Just gotta play together,” said Griffin, “Thick or thin, stay together.”
The Stars will be on the road for their next two games but return home Monday Nov. 27th to face the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (5-3) at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
