The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO–LaMarcus Aldridge was unhappy with the Spurs the past two seasons and Gregg Popovich understood why.
Their heart-to-heart talk has made basketball life much easier for Aldridge–and his comfort was apparent in the season-opener.
Aldridge had 25 points and 10 rebounds as San Antonio held on for a 107-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves last night while playing without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard.
“He just didn’t feel comfortable and it’s 98.75 percent on me,” Popovich said of Aldridge’s struggles.
“I tried to change him, I tried to make him a different player, and I think that really affected his ability to feel comfortable and confident on the court,” Popovich noted.
“And we took care of that, basically by me letting him know that we’re going to do it differently.”
San Antonio needs Aldridge to feel at ease with the team missing Leonard and Tony Parker to injuries.
Even without them, the Spurs had enough to hold off the revamped Timberwolves.
Minnesota bolstered its young lineup with the addition of veterans Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, Taj Gibson, and Jeff Teague.
The quartet helped the ‘Wolves rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 92-91 lead with 5:02 to go on an 18-foot jumper by Butler.
Butler, acquired in off-season trade with Chicago, knew the lead was precarious at best.
“Because we were just outscoring them at the time,” he noted.
“Yeah, we got some stops but we’ve got to rely on defence a lot more.”
San Antonio responded defensively, holding Minnesota to two field goals after Butler’s basket.
