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Why De’Aaron Fox believes these Spurs can be ‘special’ despite injuries
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- Why De’Aaron Fox believes these Spurs can be ‘special’ despite injuries
The post Why De'Aaron Fox believes these Spurs can be 'special' despite injuries appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The San Antonio Spurs started the regular season without De'Aaron Fox for eight games. Second overall draft pick Dylan Harper , who impressed from the get-go, hasn't played since early November. The Spurs are now missing Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle . In between, key players like Luke Kornet , Kelly Olynyk and Jeremy Sochan have spent time on the sideline as well.
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But though they've lost their stars for stretches, the Spurs haven't lost many games . ClutchPoints asked Fox if this is the making of a special season.
"Yeah. We definitely feel like there's something special."
With the Silver and Black near the top of the West Standings, San Antonio 's second-leading scorer expanded his response to ClutchPoints.
"Definitely. I mean, we're playing lineups that we hadn't even practiced with, or went through training camp or preseason with," Fox continued. "We want to jell together as quickly as possible, and whenever we have all of our guys back, we want to do that as well."
De'Aaron Fox ponders how Spurs can be even better
After last season ended in March because of surgery on his left hand, Fox sustained a hamstring injury in the summer that caused him to miss the Spurs' 6-2 start.
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"We see what can be done," the 2023 All-Star said. "Even when I was out, we were winning games."
Wembanyama has been out since Nov. 14 with a calf strain. San Antonio lost Castle to a hip flexor strain a game later. The Spurs say Harper is close to returning from a calf strain of his own for his first action since Nov. 2.
"Vic and Steph were out, and Dylan's out. We've had so many guys that have missed some time and we're still finding ways to win games," Fox added. "So, when everybody's back, that's what we're continuing to expect. But, it's going to be lineups that we haven't played with as well. So, you try to jell together as quickly as possible and it's great winning games while you're doing it."
While some of the Spurs who've stepped up are veterans who've done so in their careers like Harrison Barnes , Keldon Johnson and offseason additions Kornet and Olynyk, another, like Summer League star David Jones Garcia, has stuck out as well.
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"We have a team. I think KJ [Keldon Johnson] was great. So, we have a lot of guys who can come off and affect the game offensively, affect the game defensively, affect the game with just energy in itself. So, whenever you have that, especially when it's not coming from starters, that's big for you," Johnson shared.
San Antonio is looking for its first trip to the playoffs since 2019. Beyond that, the proud franchise hasn't won a postseason series since 2017. If they are to break either skid, Wembanyama , Castle and Harper will play a role — just not right now.
"We have guys who are coming off the bench who can really affect the game. That's what I'm talking about when I'm saying, 'We have a team.'"
Whether this team is special is what remains to be seen.
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