Season 50, Game 42
San Antonio 118, Denver 104
33-9, 2nd in the West
Stop me if this sounds familiar: the Spurs play a high scoring first half lacking in defense, only to come out strong in the second half and put the game away with increased defensive effort.
Denver scored 58 points in the first half, 46 in the second. The Spurs, meanwhile, scored exactly 59 in both halves. It really does seem like it’s a simple flip of the defensive switch. So far, 24 strong defensive minutes has been enough most nights. (It certainly won’t continue to be.)
The real story of the night was who wasn’t there: Pop got tossed near the end of the first half, Tony Parker was out with a sore foot, and Pau Gasol was a late scratch with a freak accident in warm-ups that led to him breaking a bone in his left hand. (More on that later.)
In their places, Dejounte Murray and David Lee got the starts, and they did not disappoint. Murray continues to impress as he gets more and more trust from the coaching staff leading to more minutes on the court. The kid is lightning quick, all gangly limbs and acceleration. He can get to the rim in a heartbeat. He clearly has a scorer’s drive and mentality, finishing with a career-high 24 points. He can score attacking, but his jump shot (particularly from deep) is looking better each outing.
The real mark of his growth will be in playmaking and defense. He has all the skills to be elite in both areas, and you can already see him learning when to get his own and when to be the point guard. He’s a lot like Parker at this age, in that he has all the natural ability to be an efficient volume scorer, and it’ll be up to him to want and to learn to be a more complete player.
The Spurs obviously have a track record in this regard, and Parker seems to be mentoring the young man. If the Spurs found themselves a PG to eventually replace Parker (who might actually turn out to be better than Parker), it’ll be another feather in the cap of RC Buford and the front office.
Having never really watched David Lee play in his career, and only knowing him by his reputation, he has been a complete surprise this season. His defense isn’t outstanding, but he’s a smart player who competes and knows where to be in the system, and that’s about 70% of the battle right there. And he rebounds like crazy, which is a critical function in defense.
On offense, he is a seamless fit with the bench unit. His natural inclination is to pass, cut, and keep things moving. Next to Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills, and Jonathon Simmons he is an ideal big man. Plus, his touch around the rim is remarkable. I’m shocked when the ball doesn’t go in when he puts it up close to the rim.
He finished the night with a tidy 10 points and 16 rebounds and a team-high +30.
With Pau likely going down for 4-6 weeks, the play of the back-up big men becomes even more important. It’ll be interesting to see how Pop jiggers the rotations and lineups. My hunch is Lee will likely continue to be the starter in Pau’s absence, but Dewayne Dedmon might get the occasional start depending on match-ups. Lee and Dedmon have such great chemistry on the second unit, I’m sure Pop will find a way to work the rotation to get them plenty of minutes together.
But it will also be a chance to see how LaMarcus Aldridge fits next to each of them, and to get Davis Bertans a lot more minutes. I hate to see it happen because of a Gasol injury, but I am excited to see how the three “other” bigs fare in this extended stretch.
It will also be a chance to play with smaller lineups featuring just one big (probably Aldridge or Dedmon) and Kawhi Leonard at the 4. This lineup could be critical in matchups against the Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, and Cavs, so it’d be good to get some looks at it now.
The loss of Pau stinks, but I don’t think it will have too much effect on the fate of the team. There is plenty to replace his production, and plenty of new and different looks to trot out there that can be just as effective. The real shame is that it felt like Pau was really starting to click with the team, and now that development is delayed, though hopefully not stunted.
I imagine when he is ready to play again, he’ll return to the starting lineup. Hopefully, though, we’ll have a lot more looks and weapons at our disposal moving forward through the end of the regular season and into the postseason.
The Spurs travel to Cleveland to face the Cavs on Saturday night. This should be a fun one.
Go Spurs Go.
