Season 49, Game 04
San Antonio 94, New York 84
3-1
The Spurs are now 3-0 against teams from New England. Sadly, the rest of the league is much tougher.
I talked about this in my season preview, but the early season schedule for the Spurs is favorable for them to figure things out and still bank some wins. This continued Monday night as the Spurs intermittently struggled and played great, but won going away against the Knicks.
Once again, it was the defense that led the way. The best surprise of this young season is how great the starting unit defense is. Take away that 3rd quarter, and the Spurs only surrendered 54 points in 36 minutes of action. They stifled the Knicks for most of the first half, and then completely locked them up over the final 6 minutes to get the easy win. In fact, over a 6 minute stretch late in the 4th quarter, the Knicks only scored ONE point, a Carmelo Anthony free throw.
Not coincidentally, this stretch of game-winning defense came with all of the starters back in. While the offense continues to be hit or miss with this unit, the defense already looks locked in.
Of course, so much of this starts with Kawhi Leonard. Another night, another superstar scorer completely demolished by Kawhi on both ends. Kawhi did that thing to Carmelo where he can barely get the ball; and when he does, he struggles to get his shot off; and when he does finally get a shot off, it’s often tipped or blocked or just simply taken out of his hands. On the rare occasion he does get a clean look, he tends to rush his shot. Carmelo finished 4 for 17, and it wasn’t even that good. (I’d be willing to bet most of those 4 came with other defenders on him.)
Kawhi also bullied Carmelo on the other end, which just isn’t fair. He used his speed to lose him and his strength to bully him. He finished the game shooting 8-16 for 18 points. His jumper looked pure. (14 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals? Just another night at the office.)
(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The most encouraging thing from this game, though, was seeing LaMarcus get it going offensively. He’s still figuring out how he fits in the flow, but the Spurs already look comfortable just giving him the ball in his favorite spots when they really need a basket. He’s delivering, too. He finished with a game-high 19 points, and his scoring carried the Spurs through a couple of dry spells. Scary thing is, he still hasn’t found his shot yet.
When he does? Look out.
A few more quick thoughts from tonight’s victory:
• Parker looked really good tonight. He was spry and able to get into the lane. His floater was spot on, as well. Of course, being guarded by Jose Calderon will help any point guard look good. We don’t need a lot from Tony. What we got tonight was perfect.
• We saw a lot of 2 PG line-up tonight with Parker and Mills. I don’t know if this was just a function of who the Knicks had on the court. Mills needs playing time, and it’s probably more than is available simply from the minutes Tony doesn’t play. Having them on the floor together can add punch to the offense, but it could also kill the defense.
• Pop continued to tinker with the big man rotation. In the first half he worked it so that either Aldridge or Duncan were on the floor at all times, but West was able to get a good chunk of time with the starters, replacing Aldridge. I think this is the best fit for West (though he would also thrive with Manu and Mills; he just needs Duncan or Aldridge next to him). He did well in that stint.
In the second half, though, Pop stuck with what he knew, and Boris got all of the bench big man minutes.
• Patty and Danny need to start hitting some shots. They both seem to be pressing, partly because the open 3s just aren’t there like they’ve been in past seasons. What’s most concerning, though, is how the rest of their games are being affected. Patty, in particular, seems really out of sorts. Danny at least continues to play really great defense.
• On the other hand, both Manu and Diaw seem to have rediscovered their 3-point strokes. Both hit big 3s tonight to help keep the Knicks at bay.
• Another night, another historic footnote. With tonight’s victory, Tim Duncan now holds the record for most wins with a single franchise, surpassing John Stockton. The Spurs have won 954 games with Tim Duncan suiting up. That’s more than some franchises have in their entire history. And there’s a lot more coming.
The Spurs continue their East Coast swing Wednesday night in Washington. After what Westbrook did to that team on opening night, it’ll be interesting to see how our team fares against Wall, a similarly quick and athletic PG. The Spurs will need to play better than they have the last two games if they want another road win on Wednesday.
Go Spurs Go.
