Season 49, Game 16
San Antonio 91, Denver 80
13-3, 2nd in the West

In his Pop-like wisdom, I thought my editor might give me the night off as well, being nearly the same age as Manu.

No luck. Much like the rest of the Spurs, I had to fight my way through the post-Thanksgiving slog in that first half. It was shaping up to be “one of those games” that the Spurs always give away three or four times a season. Instead, Tony and Kawhi came alive late in the 1st half, propelling the team to a 12-0 run and a lead they would never relinquish.

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Thankfully, like for the rest of the team, Kawhi made my job easy tonight. He was completely dominant, handily the best player on the floor. These are the types of games we should be seeing from him more and more: where he is both outwardly and subtly dominant. Anyone who watches the Spurs closely has known his impact on games far exceeds what the numbers say. This season, the numbers are starting to catch up, and he is dominating with an ease that befits his subdued nature.

His numbers last night were startling: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks, 4 steals. (The interwebs were going crazy late in the game, as Kawhi was just one steal shy of a rare 5×5 game, when a player records a ‘5’ in 5 different categories.) More importantly, he was completely in charge of his game and the team. It was his play on both ends that shook the team out of the doldrums. His defense sparked life into the game, and his offense was just unstoppable.

Even with a legendary Big 3, the Spurs haven’t ever really had a player like this. Prime Duncan is as close as it gets, but as a big man, he never had control of the ball on offense like Kawhi can. In Kawhi, we have a player that can put the team on his back and prevent “one of those games” sheerly by force of will. Two to three extra wins a year can mean the difference between the #2 seed and the #6 seed… as we all know.

In a game that could have easily been a loss, it was nice to see the team fight through and get an easy win going away.

A few more thoughts on the win in Denver:

• Parker had another solid game after a pretty shaky opening. He looks really spry, and his jump shot is falling. I think that elbow jumper will kind of be his barometer for the rest of his career: when his shot is falling, defenses have to respect the shot, which can open up the lane for him. While Kawhi was the primary force in this game, Parker’s scoring and floor game were critical in pulling away in the 3rd quarter.

• Mills, on the other hand, had a very up and down game. He had a really nice 4th quarter with some big shots and good energy plays, but his handle and his defense are noticeably bad this season. In the past, what he lacked in size, he made up for in annoyance on the defensive end. This year, it just seems like he’s being taken advantage of.

• Aldridge didn’t get much playing time tonight. He was pulled early in the 3rd and never saw the floor again. I thought it might be to stagger his minutes with Leonard’s to make sure we always had a primary scorer on the floor. Instead, I think it was probably to save his energy and legs for Saturday’s game back home against Atlanta.

• Simmons got his first big chunk of playing time. In the first half, he seemed really hesitant and lost out there. In the second half, though, he appeared to feel more comfortable, and made some really smart and athletic plays on both ends. He got to the rim for some good baskets and hit a big 3-pointer. If he can become a reliable rotation player – even as the 11th or 12th man – that can be really big for this team. You can never have too much athleticism and good defense on the wing.

• It seemed like the Spurs ended up with a huge mismatch in the post nearly every offensive possession. I don’t know if Denver was switching a bunch, was playing really small, or a combination of both. Every time I looked up, it seemed like Boris or West was being guarded by Will Barton or Jameer Nelson. We did a good job finding the mismatches, but actually didn’t score very well against them.

• Even without Duncan, the Spurs defense was fantastic again. The last four opponents have scored 82, 84, 83, and 80, respectively. This great defense gives the offense a lot more room for error, and a buffer to allow it time to come together organically.

The Spurs have a quick turnaround, playing the Hawks at home on Saturday night.

Go Spurs Go.