Season 49, Game 31
San Antonio 101, Denver 86
26-6, 2nd in the West
This morning I woke up in a terrible state, panicked that the last 40 years had only been a dream. For all this time, I had not been a Spurs fan, but a fan of the Denver Nuggets.
Some great athletes played in Denver. Players like Alex English, Dan Issel, Carmelo Anthony, David Thompson, Dikembe Mutombo, and Kiki Vandeweghe.
There were some great teams, like Chauncey Billups, Nene Hilario, J.R. Smith, Chris Andersen and Carmelo Anthony, who made it to the NBA Western Conference Finals in 2008-2009, only to lose to the Lakers in six games.
Two other squads made it to the WCF, in 1985 and 1978. Hell, the Nuggets went all the way to the Finals in 1976, although it was in the ABA. (The Spurs finished 3rd that year.)
So much talent wasted, so much potential unrealized, so many opportunities squandered… how frustrating to be a fan of the Denver Nuggets.
Thank god it was only a bad dream.
For all intents and purposes, this game was wrapped up in the second quarter.
After a 6-footer by Serbian Nikola Jokic gave Denver a 27-26 lead – their last of the game – the Spurs went on a 30-15 run led by Tony Parker (13 points), David West, Danny Green, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyle Anderson, Boris Diaw, and the other Serbian on the AT&T Center parquet, new fan favorite Boban Marjanovic.
Other notes from last night’s game:
• Coach Gregg Popovich now has 1,200 coaching wins in the regular and post season, second place all-time and just 23 behind Jerry Sloan.
• These Denver Nuggets are a talented, young, and international team with players like 25-year old Kostas Papanikolaou (Greece), 24-year old Joffrey Lauvergne (France) — who looked up to Diaw as a kid – and the aforementioned 20-year old Jokic (Serbia). They should be fun to watch develop.
• Even as a starter, David West looked a bit out of sorts on offense, although much less disjointed than he did in the prior game. He had some nice post-ups on Kenneth Faried and a couple midrange pick and pops.
• Kawhi put in another yeoman’s effort with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 32 minutes played. His midrange shots were falling, he wasn’t bothered when Denver double-teamed him, and he was tough under the rim. (How about those cheers for Kawhi in the second and third quarters? “M-V-P! M-V-P!”)
• Btw, Kawhi Leonard is 11th in the league for field goals made, third overall for steals, 14th for points, second in 3-point field goal percentage, 10th for free throw percentage, 14th for points per game, 4th for player efficiency rating, 4th for offensive rating and 1st for defensive rating. (Did I mention that fans were cheering “M-V-P” for Kawhi last night?)
• How great is it to have LaMarcus Aldridge wearing silver and black? Tonight’s 12 point, 9 rebound, 3 block performance may not look like much, but some things can’t be measured with stats. LaMarcus does it all, on both ends of the court. He’s nearly unstoppable in the post, his midrange shot is one of the best in the game, and he’s a tough defender.
Photo: TOM REEL, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
• Boban can play. He rebounds and scores close to the basket with ease and looks comfortable setting picks, making passes and running plays. He also appears eager to be coached by Pop, at least that’s what I saw during a timeout in the middle of the second quarter. Pop was emphatically explaining something to Boban and he seemed to hinge on every syllable.
• What happened to the Baseline Bums? Not long ago they were a drunken, rowdy, force to be reckoned with. Now they’re just a handful of fans sitting on their hands, being pimped for an “AARP Baseline Bum For a Night” promo. Sad.
• Tony Parker is showing signs of the healthy player he was three to four years ago, running the break and finishing hard at the rim. ESPN Staff Writer Michael C. Wright explains (“Tony Parker’s strong second quarter sinks Nuggets”):
Parker now appears to have recovered from the hamstring issues that plagued his 2014-15 campaign, and the point guard’s good health is paying off for the Spurs.
Having thrived on floaters, pullups and an uncanny ability to score on the drive his entire career, Parker saw his percentage of attempts within three feet plummet from 32.9 percent in 2013-14 to 25.5 percent during his injury-riddled 2014-15 campaign, according to statistics from Basketball-Reference.com. Parker suffered a similar statistical drop off in 2011-12 as he dealt with hamstring issues, only to return with the highest true shooting percentage of his career the following season.
So it’s no surprise Parker’s percentage of attempts within three feet are up to 34.7, his highest since the 2010-11 season. It’s also not shocking Parker is currently shooting a career-best 54.8 percent, which ranks No. 6 in the NBA and best among all guards.
• With Tim and Manu resting, 12 Spurs played tonight and 9 scored. Only Rasual Butler sat; only Bonner, McCallum and Simmons didn’t score.
• Speaking of Simmons, his play has been a revelation, at least to this fan. I look forward to seeing how he develops in the coming weeks as he gets more minutes and more confidence.
The next three games will be at home against the Timberwolves, the Suns and the Rockets.
The Spurs are still unbeaten at home, 17-0, and have won 26 straight at AT&T Center going back to last season.
Each time the Spurs have lost a game this season, they’ve gone on a winning streak. So far, those streaks have lasted 3, 6, 5, 4 and 7 games, respectively.
Let’s hope the trend continues.
Go Spurs Go.
