Season 49, Game 15
San Antonio 88, Dallas 83
12-3, 2nd in the West

I’m thankful we got out of that game with a win.

Mavs-Spurs games have a way of always being close. It doesn’t matter how good the teams are (though both teams are usually really good). Sometimes it will be an offensive game, “last basket wins” type of game. Sometimes it will be a “grind it out, first one to 85 wins” type of game. The two teams just know each other so well and are so well-coached that there is no give either way.

I never really felt like the Mavs could win this game. Simultaneously, I never really felt like the Spurs had it in them to put the game away. It was excruciating watching brick after brick after brick both ways. Hell, some of the times the shot was so bad that it just missed everything completely. The Spurs, in particular, looked like a bunch of High School JV Team kids taking shots out there. I don’t think I’ve seen so many misses in a professional NBA game where you could just tell the shot was bad leaving the shooter’s hand. (Danny Green missed a 3 so bad that it actually banked in.)

Thankfully (on this holiday of giving thanks), the Spurs’ defense was still up to the task, limiting the Mavs to a mere 83 points. A good defense leaves a lot of room for error on the offensive side. The Spurs had a putrid stretch of offense in the third quarter where I don’t think they even got 3 clean shots at the basket. During this time, the Mavs had every chance to seize control of the game, but were only able to muster the slowest 9-0 run in the NBA since the implementation of the 24-second shot clock. It might have been a good 7 minutes of game time. (Editor’s note: it was 4 minutes 49 seconds.)

Hopefully you enjoy watching good defense, because that’s the best the Spurs have to offer this young season. The offense is still very much a work in progress. It showed flashes early in this game, as the starting unit looked the best it’s been. The ball was moving, players were making confident choices, and the team was scoring pretty easily within the confines of the system. (6 of the first 7 baskets were assisted.)

The second unit – usually the offensive spark – was a complete offensive dud in the game. Manu and Patty combined to shoot 3 of 19. (Just typing that makes me wince.) Manu was also up to his old (bad) tricks, throwing passes that only he sees, and generally being a little too careless too often. Only David West provided positive from the bench, hitting all 3 of his shots, including a buzzer beater 3 at the end of the third that gave the team a little bit of breathing room going into the final quarter.

In what is becoming a regular occurrence, Tony Parker was once again the most consistent player for the Spurs, sparking the offense and hitting some clutch baskets late. He had two of those fast break spin moves into layups, which is the best indicator that he is feeling really good.

And Kawhi. Oh, Kawhi. He closed the game for us, with two big offensive possessions in the last two minutes of the game, the final one a 3-pointer that pretty much iced the game. He also hit his first two 3s of the game, and that stroke from the elbow extended looks so good right now. He ended the night with the best stat line on the team: 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals.

And yet, I thought he had a pretty up and down game. He got lost on defense much more than we’re used to, which allowed Wes Matthews to be able to spring free for layups and open 3s too many times. He disappeared on offense for a few stretches when the team really needed him to be assertive. He seemed a little too happy to take long jumpers, even though he often had the physical mismatch to go down into the low block.

I think it’s a good thing, though, that Kawhi has a game like this and we think: he can do even better. He might be one of the 10 best players in the league, and we still think he isn’t even close to his ceiling.

Now that’s something to be thankful for.

A few more thoughts from the victory:

• Aldridge continues to impress in all of the little things: rebounding, second chance points, defensive positioning, rim protection. He’s become like a super-charged Tiago Splitter. Which isn’t a bad thing. But I don’t trust his jump shot right now – and it looks like he doesn’t either. That’s a bad thing. He’s passing up so many wide open shots that he needs to take. Instead, he is hesitating, and then either dribbling into nothing or passing the ball back out, resetting the possession. I know it’s a matter of comfort and trying to fit in, but dammit, LA, shoot the ball.

• Dirk is still completely bending our defense out of whack, causing switches that force double teams that lead to wide-open shots for the Mavs. God bless you, Dirk, still getting it done.

• Pop played some pretty small lineups tonight, a few with Kawhi at the 4. Yes, he was matching the Mavs, but he also uses the early season to do a lot of experimenting. He’s been playing Parker and Mills together a lot. Tonight he had Parker, Mills, and Manu out there for a stretch. Seeing different lineups with Kawhi at the 4 is also really important because there’s a really good team in the West that has a really good small ball lineup that the Spurs will probably have to find a counter for at some point this season.

• Speaking of Pop, his sport coat was on point tonight. I love the random 2 or 3 games each year when it’s obvious that he is rocking a new jacket. This one is Spurs Dynasty Approved.

The Spurs next play Friday night in Denver. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and…

Go Spurs Go!