Season 49, Game 19
San Antonio 95, Milwaukee 70
15-4, 2nd in the West

Pop ran his rotations like the team had a road game on Thursday night and like they’d have no problem beating the Bucks at home. He was right on both counts.

A few quick thoughts from Wednesday night’s win against Milwaukee:

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• Several encouraging signs from LaMarcus Aldridge: his defense remains strong paired with Duncan, as he registered 5 blocks tonight; his jump shot is looking a lot better over the last few games; most importantly, his decision making seems more intuitive now. He’s passing in the right moments and shooting in the right moments, and not hesitating in either instance. It’s still a long process, but you can already see positive results.

• Kawhi has been struggling with his jump shot over the last few games. A big part of his hot start to the season was near-unsustainable outside shooting numbers. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to regressing a bit. He has been more aggressive attacking the paint, and also has been more of a playmaker, looking to get other players involved. I’m in now way worried about Kawhi, as he still remains a force. This ‘slump’ might even be a good thing in the long term, expanding his game.

• Patty Mills makes shots, Patty Mills becomes very valuable off the bench.

• Speaking of those rotations… Manu didn’t play in the second half. Tim, Kawhi, and LaMarcus all took early seats in the third quarter. The team leader in minutes played was Boris at 25, because he drew the short straw to play out garbage time. I suspect everybody will be available for tonight’s game in Memphis.

• The Milwaukee Bucks struggled to score 70 points in a professional NBA game in 2015, playing about 15 minutes against the second and third string of the Spurs. Milwaukee isn’t a great offense, but that is some stifling defense.

Spurs: Defense :: Golden State: Offense.

Okay, maybe it’s not quite at that level, and what Golden State is doing is much more fun. But what the Spurs are doing on the other side of the ball is pretty impressive. I can’t wait to watch these two teams play on January 25.

• After a shaky preseason and start to the regular season, Jonathon Simmons is looking like a real NBA player, and possibly a really good NBA player. He has a lot of athleticism on the wing, but his game is not defined solely on that athleticism. Still, he had 3 rim runs that all ended in spectacular fashion: an alley-oop finish from Kawhi on a fast break, an assisted lay up on another fast break, and a 1-on-2 fast break that he put up between two defenders and drew the foul. Beyond that, he is fitting into the system very well and showing real potential.

West… Leonard … SIMMONS!

A video posted by San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) on

• Kyle Anderson must lead the league in “passes received with under 4 seconds on the shot clock,” which is ironic for a player nicknamed SloMo. And yet, he is very successful in those situations. Go figure.

The Spurs face the Grizzlies in Memphis tonight. The game is featured on TNT.

Go Spurs Go.