On Thursday night, the San Antonio Spurs (12-48) and their rookie sensation, Victor Wembanyama, took another step in their growth by knocking off a team with over three times as many wins as them this season in the Indiana Pacers (41-18). And Duke basketball product Tre Jones played a big part in cementing the 132-118 home victory.
The 24-year-old's efforts, including a clutch three to beat the shot-clock buzzer and extend the Spurs' lead to 119-113 with under four minutes to play and an alert dime to Wembanyama for his splash from deep on their next possession, helped San Antonio snap its five-game losing streak.
Jones, a 2020 second-round draft pick to the Spurs following two years as Duke basketball's starting floor general, totaled 17 points, six rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and zero turnovers against Oklahoma City. He played 33 minutes, shooting 6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-5 beyond the arc, and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe.
A few minutes into the fourth quarter, though, with the score tied at 100, Jones got whistled for the first technical foul of his four-year pro career. He was visibly shaken by it at the time, suggesting to the media afterward that he adamantly disagreed with the flopping call.
"I can't say too much," Jones, a full-time starter this season, said about the play, in which the Thunder's 6-foot-4, 220-pound Lu Dort ran over him. "I talked to the ref after, but that's a big guard. I'm just trying to beat him to a point, and they thought I flopped.
"I was just trying to catch my footing so I didn't fall all the way to the ground and take someone's legs out, but it is what it is."
Tre Jones and the Spurs (12-48), still alone at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, have won two straight only three times this season. They'll need to pull off another sizeable upset to now make that four times, as they next host another squad with a winning record in the Indiana Pacers (34-26) at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
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