When the San Antonio Spurs played on the road for the first time in preseason, their goal was to add a third win to their winning streak.

Instead, they ran into a Miami Heat wall and committed 21 turnovers – 15 in the first half – en route to a narrow 120-117 loss that dropped them to .500 in the preseason.

“Miami is a great physical team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They’re after you. We let that get to us.”

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From the jump, San Antonio had everything going offensively. Victor Wembanyama opened the night’s scoring with a running 3-pointer and Jeremy Sochan responded with a dunk of his own, but it didn’t take long for the Heat to catch up and overtake the Spurs.

From then on, the Silver & Black fought from behind, but the 15 turnovers in the first half didn’t help matters as Miami was able to stay ahead and take a 10-point lead by halftime.

“We lost far too many balls today,” said Sochan. “So it’s about learning from a team like this that has experience and has overcome battles.”

Despite self-inflicted injuries, Spurs were largely able to keep up with their hosts. Charles Bassey got his first NBA minutes since Dec. 10, when he suffered a torn ACL that sidelined him for the rest of the season, and posted four points and four rebounds.

Sochan led the way with a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Behind them were Keldon Johnson and Malaki Branham with 15 points each and Chris Paul with 13 points and five assists.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the night for San Antonio came when rookie Stephon Castle, who was having a relatively slow day with just six points, broke the line late in the second quarter.

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Wembanyama also had a well-rounded record, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal and block each, but despite the all-round performance, the Spurs were unable to capitalize as Miami prevailed for the second time of the preseason, 120- 117.

The loss drops San Antonio to 2-2 in the preseason and now looks to one final game – again on the road – against the Houston Rockets, who themselves are on a two-game winning streak.

The starting signal for this competition is set for Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m.

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