Season 48, Game 19
San Antonio 107, Memphis 101
14-5, 5th in the West

We’ve seen this game before.

Ever since that playoff series, the Spurs have completely owned the Memphis Grizzlies. Not only that, it seems like the games almost always play out in a familiar fashion. Spurs take an early lead and control of the game. Memphis keeps it close throughout, but never gets over the hump. Spurs open up a big lead at some point, only for the Grizzlies to fight back late, but inevitably come up short.

It really feels like the Spurs are in the heads of this Memphis team. And yet, they’re still one of the teams I fear the most in the league. Marc Gasol is perhaps the best big man in the game; Mike Conley is a ferocious PG (in the mold of Parker) and always gives us fits; Zach Randolph is still a beast, even if the Spurs seemed to have figured him out with Matt Bonner of all people. The team plays tremendous defense and has really built up its offense over the last few seasons. They have a great home court advantage, an identity, continuity, and confidence. They are to be feared.

And yet…

One of the things the Spurs do best against this Memphis team is turn their strength against them. The identity of this team is their two bigs: Gasol and Randolph. Both are tremendous in the low and high post, and both have unique skill sets that play off of each other well. But ever since Z-Bo killed the Spurs in that playoff series, the Spurs have completely flummoxed him. Instead of just guarding him straight up in the post, they front him, denying the entry pass. The first thing this does is obviously prevent him from getting the ball near the rim, where he is a wrecking ball. But it also completely gums up the Memphis offense, grinding it to a halt as they try to find a way to get the entry pass.

Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

If Randolph does get the ball, the Spurs are quick to bring the weak side defender in (Kawhi, quite often in this game) to crowd him. They can do this because Randolph doesn’t always look to pass and because all these years later, Memphis still doesn’t have enough reliable 3-point shooters.

On the other end of the court, the Spurs start Matt Bonner to force Randolph to come all the way out to the 3-point line to guard, which opens up the lane for our cutters and also puts Randolph in a spot on the floor where he is really not comfortable. They also just attack him relentlessly in pick and rolls, sometimes 2 or 3 in a possession. Eventually something breaks down somewhere.

It also helps that the Spurs were on fire from behind the line in this game. Of course, a big part of that was that, by design, the Spurs have found a ton of weak spots in the Memphis defense that allow these wide open shots. A lot of corner 3s, as you typically expect. But there are also a ton of open shooters at the elbow extended (the wing 3-pointer), and even the top of the key. This works particularly well with Manu running the pick and roll with Duncan, forcing the help defenders to make a decision to either drop down and help, or stay at home. Drop down, wide open 3; stay at home, Manu or Tim get an open shot at the rim.

And who were the two stars of the game? Manu and Tim, naturally. This was an all-around brilliant Manu game. His only made baskets were 3-pointers, which is funny (though his stroke looked fantastic). But he ran the offense with a master’s touch, and orchestrated everything, particularly in the second half with Parker out due to injury. He missed quite a few open looks at the rim (as did Tim and Kawhi), but he was getting there. He also had 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals.

Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

All Duncan did was have a ho-hum triple-double. 14-10-10 for the 38 year old. Absolutely incredible. His passing was particularly on point tonight, dishing out several hi-lo and backdoor assists. One of the great pleasures of watching this team (and something that makes them a real threat) is that with the system dictating the offense, great passing can come from any position on the floor. You see Parker or Ginobili reverse roles with Duncan all of the time, running that hi-lo reverse back cut in end of game situations. Even the less-than-great passers on this team often get pretty assists just from corporate knowledge and familiarity in the system.

The other standout performance in the game was Cory Joseph. I’m probably a little harder on Cory than most, and I still think Patty’s game fits the team better. But Joseph stepped up big time in the second half taking Parker’s spot. He was aggressive driving to the rim (and had the most success there), pushing the offense, and scoring when the team was threatening to give up the lead. More impressive, to me, was his defense on Conley in the final quarter. Yes, Conley’s numbers were good, but Joseph made him work for everything, and took away a ton of secondary options, in essence, simplifying their attack.

In many ways, Joseph works better as Tony Parker than as Patty Mills. He has a game similar to Parker, using his attack off the dribble to break everything down around him. He prefers to score at the rim, or on mid-range jumpers. The problem is, on the second unit, that is Manu’s job. The PG’s job in that unit is to be a secondary ball handler and to shoot the wide open 3s created from Manu. But Joseph never shoots wide open 3s. It’s very predictable: every time he gets the ball swung to him, he always drives back into the defense. Always. He needs to learn when to drive and when to take that 3-pointer. His 3 is a work in progress, but he has to start shooting it. As good as he is, he isn’t Tony Parker. And he’s not as good at being Patty Mills as Patty Mills is. Right now, he exists in a weird sort of limbo. Still, with Mills out and Parker getting nicked up, Joseph is invaluable. And his development this season really has been incredible.

One final thought about this game: I talk a lot about how basketball is really a deterministic sport, with every play flowing from the previous. No individual moment can be divorced from the hundreds that preceded it, as every moment is the culmination of its predecessors. The schedule is very much the same way. We can mourn the loss in Brooklyn, and how close we came (even playing so poorly). But had that loss not occurred, this win might have been a loss. By losing on Wednesday night, Pop was able to get on the team, get their attention, and get them to come out with a lot of focus tonight. A win in Brooklyn, and the team might not be ready for this game, continuing to play poor despite the wins.

Though each counts as just 1, tonight’s game was far more important than Wednesday’s game. Memphis is a real threat in the West, and a division rival. This game was a “gauge” game, to see where the Spurs are at this point in the season against the other top teams. My guess is, either way, the Spurs were going 3-1 on this road trip. A win Wednesday and a loss Friday doesn’t change that record. But the win against Memphis says a whole lot more than the loss against Brooklyn, and means a whole lot more. If the Brooklyn loss was the price to pay for this win, I’m happy to pay.

The Spurs have a quick turnaround as they come home to face Minnesota on Saturday night.