Season 49, Game 20
San Antonio 103, Memphis 83
16-4, 2nd in the West
Let’s hope that second half was a glimpse of the Spurs future.
Finally putting great offense together with great defense, the Spurs completely overwhelmed the Grizzlies in the second half, effectively ending the game after about 15 minutes of action. We’ve seen little glimpses here and there, but Thursday in Memphis was the first time we’ve truly seen a cohesive team offense that can be an equal partner with the team defense.
The second half started well enough, with Kawhi hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Who knew this was a to presage an offensive explosion from Leonard, hitting 7 threes on the night, seemingly unable to miss for about 10 minutes. Every shot looked true leaving his hand, and it’s great to see him shooting with confidence and without hesitation.
(Brandon Dill/Associated Press)
The speed with which Kawhi learns is startling. He is processing and aggregating new data by the game, sometimes by the half, it seems. For much of last season and the start of this season, he seemed unsure of when to shoot the 3, when to drive, or when to pass. Now it’s becoming second nature, and he seems to always make the right choice. Likewise, you can see his field of vision expanding each night, able to take double teams, drive into traffic, and make proper reads and passes now. He’s still going to take the shot more than pass (and why shouldn’t he, being nearly unguardable?); but as defenses learn to load up on him, it’ll be imperative that he be able to also be a playmaker. I’m sure he’ll be averaging 6 assists a night by January.
Throw in the continued excellent defense, and while he is not the best player in the league, he is perhaps the player nearest to the top of the list in both offense and defense.
My favorite part of the second half, though, was watching LaMarcus start to look like the player that terrorized us for years as a Blazer. After a slow first half, he got going early in the second with 3 quick lay-ups. After that, his jumper was more open, and he shot it more confidently. With both inside and outside established, he had the defense on skates, able to drive when crowded, or shoot when given space. When he and Kawhi get it going at the same time, the team is near unguardable. (And what a beautiful glimpse of the future!)
What I really liked about Aldridge’s second half was how he got his offense. It wasn’t in isolation, but it also wasn’t overly complex play calls. The first two layups were created by doing his work early, getting position and sealing his defender. First Duncan, then Parker, made great lob passes over the defense and Aldridge had the easy lay-in. Simple and effective. Then he got points in pick and roll, pick and pop, post-ups, hustle plays to grab offensive rebounds, and by acting as a spacer for the driver on the weak side. It’s not rocket science fitting an elite offensive talent into the system.
But the best part of all? Aldridge is a wonderful defender. I think most Spurs fans are legitimately shocked at how well he has fit in on defense, and how much better the defense is with him. I’ll admit, I assumed he was only an average defender, and primarily cared about scoring and being an offensive threat. Boy was I wrong. (And happy to be so.) He works his ass off on defense and is a perfect fit next to Duncan. Throw in Leonard, and the Spurs have the best backline defense in the NBA – possibly historically great.
The Spurs are right where they want to be a quarter into the season: under the radar, locked in on defense, and getting better each game.
A few more thoughts from the win:
• Disgusted with the starters play in the first 6 minutes, Pop did the hockey line shift, subbing all 5 players out for the second unit. The bench, led by Manu and West’s energy, got the team back in the game. After being down by 7, the game was tied at 25 when the starters came back in (again, wholesale) in the second half. From there they closed the first half on a 20-11 run, setting up the second half surge.
• Parker led the charge in the first half. His jumper was pure. He looks fresh and healthy, and really seems to have figured out his role on this team. Coming into the season, most people thought he was the potential weak link on the team. Not anymore. He is solid, and knows how to pick and choose his spots to be excellent.
• Green, on the other hand, is getting closer and closer to becoming a real problem. His shot isn’t coming back, and only appears to be getting worse. It seems to be affecting the rest of his offense, and he just looks lost out there at times. His defense is still excellent. But Memphis illustrates the perfect example of a great defensive player whose offense makes him a liability: Tony Allen. Danny is nowhere near that. But if he doesn’t at least find the 3-point stroke soon, he can start to become a real liability out there.
• Luckily, Manu is still having a renaissance season. A couple of slam dunks, then tonight he laid out on the sideline to save a ball from going out of bounds. In the second quarter. Of Game 20. Man is just wired differently. Such competitive fire. It’s nice to see his body still be able to keep up with his heart and his mind.
• Patty Mills makes shot: Patty Mills is very valuable.
• I loved that Pop kept Kawhi and Duncan in most of the third quarter, and then to start the 4th. (He then subbed Duncan for Aldridge.) Normally they would get rest there, but it seemed like Pop was going for the kill, trying to put the game out of reach right then and there. It worked. Had Kawhi taken his usual break, the Grizzlies could have very easily clawed their way back into the game.
• The West is not the death march we all thought it would be. There are a lot of teams which are “pretty good” to “really good” kind of jammed up in the middle. Then there’s Golden State at the tippy top, and the Spurs in their own little tier right below. After Thursday’s win (and OKC’s loss in Miami), San Antonio is already 4.5 games up on the 3rd place team, the aforementioned OKC. Amazingly, the Spurs are closer to the Warriors than the Thunder is to the Spurs.
The Spurs return home to host the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
Go Spurs Go.
