Spurs Seek ‘Mental Toughness’ on Road Trip

The San Antonio Spurs won just a single game out of the nine they played on their “Rodeo Road Trip” in February. Immediately following their long trip, they won the two games they played at home, but when they went back on the road last night against the Houston Rockets, they couldn’t keep the streak going in a 114-101 loss.

Coach Gregg Popovich says that the team has to come out with a different mindset for road games than they do at home.

Jabari Smith Jr. Victor Wembanyama Rockets

Troy Taormina

“A young group needs understand the road is a lot different than at home and it requires a little bit more mental toughness, and we didn’t have this time,” Popovich said postgame. “So we’ll move on. Try to play better at Sac (Sacramento).”

Out of the Spurs’ 13 wins this season, only six of them come on the road. The Spurs are one of just eight teams that haven’t won double-digit games on the road this season. All of those teams are outside of the Play-In picture, which is a sign of which teams are playoff-ready and which teams aren’t.

This is simply another growing pain and lesson the Spurs have to deal with on their road towards rebuilding, but each game away from San Antonio provides an opportunity to develop.

The Spurs’ road trip continues tomorrow night against the Sacramento Kings. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. CT.