Season 50, Game 47
San Antonio 101, Dallas 105
36-11, 2nd in the West
It seems the Spurs were doomed to repeat the lessons of the previous game.
The parallels are striking. After a high-scoring back-and-forth first quarter, the Spurs opened up a nice little lead in the second quarter, putting themselves in a nice position to put the game away early in the second half. However, the opponent made a nice run to start the third, more or less evening the game. In New Orleans, the Pelicans were able to pour it on and put it away late. Against Dallas, the Spurs at least made it interesting down the stretch, ultimately still falling.
There’s not much new to add. The Spurs are still suffering the same issues: a lackluster defense leading the team to rely too much on their offense; when the shots stop falling, the game gets away from them; long stretches of inconsistent energy and effort.
It’s an easy cliche, but the team just isn’t putting together 48 minutes of solid play. For long stretches (much too long) the team plays with a lack of focus and energy. Against Dallas, the 2nd quarter was fabulous, and they played well enough at the end of the game to almost sneak it out. But that 3rd quarter was just too much to overcome. To relinquish a 10-point halftime lead in under 5 minutes to the Mavericks is inexcusable (though, in the Mavs defense, they are playing much better of late, winning 7 of 1o, and beating the Cavs on Monday night).
But you know who else is struggling through the same mid-season malaise? Pretty much the rest of the NBA, save for the Warriors. The Cavs are struggling, leading LeBron to publicly gripe. The only reason they’re not worrying too much is because their nearest competition – the Raptors and the Celtics – are both slogging through middling play, as well.
In the West, the Rockets have slid back a bit, the Clippers can’t get healthy, and the Jazz, Grizzlies, and Thunder can’t put it together to make a run. Basically, nobody is playing great right now. Except the Warriors.
So there’s not too much to worry about, even if losing back-to-back games to Division rivals is annoying and a bit frustrating. Pop is definitely in the lab, trying some things out, giving different players and lineups a chance to prove themselves. Barring anything catastrophic, the Spurs are very likely to end up with the #2-seed, which was the best-case scenario coming into the season.
They’re still in a great position. (But please don’t lose to the Mavs again.)
The Thunder come to town Tuesday night for the first meeting this season between the two teams. I’m excited to see how the Spurs handle Westbrook.
Go Spurs Go.
