Season 49, Game 21
San Antonio 108, Boston 105
17-4, 2nd in the West
We started poorly and we ended poorly, but in between we played just well enough to win the game.
The Celtics scored 27 in the 1st quarter and 34 in the 4th. That’s 61 points in half of a game – not the Spurs defense we’re used to seeing this season. If we want to cut it even finer, the Celtics were up 18-8 after about 6 minutes. So in the first 6 minutes and last 12, Boston totaled 52 points. 52 points in 18 minutes is really not the Spurs defense we’re used to. (44 points in the middle two quarters, however, is.)
On the other hand, in those intervening 30 minutes, the Spurs offense was unstoppable. It started with the insertion of the second unit: Manu, Boris, Patty, and David just overwhelmed the Boston reserves. (The bench is usually a strong point for Boston, as they have fairly equal talent up and down the roster; not so against the Spurs, who often have better talent coming off the bench many nights.) Diaw and West were particularly strong bullying the Boston bigs under the basket.
Once re-inserted, the starters found their stride and kept the offense humming. Aldridge showed why the Spurs signed him, hitting shot after shot and looking mostly un-guardable with his smooth jumper.
Like many games this season, it seemed the Spurs had this one in hand. Give Boston credit, though: they are relentless. What they lack in elite talent, they make up for with intelligence, execution, and tenacity. They just never stopped coming. Thomas squirreled his way in and around our usually stout defense. Avery Bradley hounded our ball handlers on one end, and make big shots on the other. Every player contributed as positively as they could.
Where did the Spurs turn when they found themselves in a tight game? The ‘old’ Big 3, of course. On consecutive plays, the Big 3 worked perfectly timed and executed backdoor cuts for easy layups that gave the team just enough breathing room to put the game away. The first was Parker to Duncan to Ginobili; the second Ginobili to Duncan to Parker, just to mix things up a bit.
These are the types of plays that can only be executed with complete trust and faith in each other, and with an intuitive understanding of how each player is going to behave and react. A great coach can draw these plays up. But the Spurs Big 3 know each other so well, they can execute these game winning plays without a timeout, without a play call from Pop, even without a word uttered on the court between the three. in the most tense of live game moments.
As soon as Manu fakes the cut up the lane and plants that foot to turn back, Parker knows to pass to Duncan on the wing who immediately flicks the ball to Manu charging the rim. Layup. On the next play, as soon as Parker and Duncan invert (Parker heads down low and Duncan into the high post), Manu understands what both players want. He passes the ball to Duncan, who lobs it over the top to Parker being fronted for an easy layup.
When people talk about chemistry, this is what they mean. The Spurs have a commodity that no other team boasts: over a decade of repetition and familiarity.
Even while the future is being constructed on this team, let’s not forget the past is still here with us, playing top shelf basketball. Treasure it.
A few more thoughts from tonight’s win:
• Kawhi had a bit of a tough game. This was a ‘growing pains’ type of game for him. Perhaps he was a little bit tired, as Sean Elliott suggested. Maybe he just had an off night. He still played solid basketball, but he just seemed a bit out of sync on both ends.
• The Celtics play a really aggressive defense that actively tries to force turnovers. The Spurs were happy to oblige. A nice side effect of this aggressiveness was that the refs seemed to not call a lot of borderline fouls on the Celtics defenders. On the other end, the Celtics seemed to be the beneficiary of a lot of questionable calls.
In general, Boston was the more aggressive team, and had the Spurs on their heels in those two stretches at the start and end of the game.
• Despite his hot shooting, Pop sat Aldridge in the end of game. Perhaps it’s nothing. Perhaps he wanted to play the players he trusts. But eventually we’re going to need Aldridge out there in close games, and it’d be nice to get him some reps with the other players who will be playing in those moments.
• Manu, at 38, still might be the fiercest competitor in the league. He made several winning plays in the final minutes that helped to salt the game away, including a huge 3-pointer and a few defensive rebounds.
• One move I loved by Pop: in the last 3 minutes of action, when the game was close, he didn’t call any timeouts. He just let his guys play, trusting they knew what to do. The other advantage of this tactic: it prevent the opposing team from setting up their offense, or making offense/defense substitutions. Once it became a fouling game, Pop had banked enough time outs to never be put in a precarious situation. Meanwhile, Boston ran out of timeouts, and probably could have used one on the final play to actually get a shot at tying the game.
The Spurs head out on a 2-game road trip, starting Monday night in Philadelphia.
Go Spurs Go.
