Season 50, Game 60 and 61
San Antonio 101, New Orleans 98 (OT)
San Antonio 97, Minnesota 90 (OT)
48-13, 2nd in the West

Let’s begin this with our semi-regular reminder that Kawhi is pure awesomeness on the basketball court: Friday night in New Orleans: 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals with only 1 turnover in 40 minutes; Saturday night against Minnesota: 34 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals, 1 block with only 1 turnover in 44 minutes while continuing to haunt Andrew Wiggins’ nightmares.

At this point it’s becoming rote to discuss Kawhi’s amazing season. But there’s something else important here other than his complete dominance. Having a player like Kawhi is often the difference in these types of games when nothing is coming easy, the offense is stagnant, the shots aren’t falling, and the legs are heavy with exhaustion. Often, the team that has that player–the player that the entire team trusts to make the winning play and will fight tooth and nail to get that player in position to win the game–will win the game.

We saw it Friday night in New Orleans, a place that must give the Spurs players and staff nightmares. The Spurs had no business winning that game, and yet they did. Kawhi struggled early, but was huge down the stretch, and probably the difference in a tightly contested game.

We saw it again Saturday night against Minnesota. The team was obviously tired and a few steps slow from the quick turnaround from the night before, playing a well-rested and young Timberwolves team. The Spurs had no reason winning that game, and yet they did. Kawhi struggled early, but was huge down the stretch, and probably the difference in a tightly contested game.

Rinse, repeat.

You know who else was huge in these games? LaMarcus Aldridge. While his scoring is down this season, he has turned up his all-around floor game recently, turning into a rugged, physical, do-all-the-little-things-to-win elite role player type. His defense was incredible in both games against elite big men. He had 15 rebounds and 3 blocks against the Pelicans, and was about the only defender able to hold either Cousins or Davis in check. Against Minnesota he had 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, while battling Towns. More importantly, it was his energetic and aggressive play in the 3rd and 4th quarters that seemed to spark the Spurs, giving them life to claw back into the game and steal the win.

He also had 21 and 18 points in the two games, respectively. But it’s the rest of his game that is the better barometer for how the team plays.

The overall team defense was also really good, and allowed the team to stick around when the offense (in both games) was completely stuck in the mud. The Spurs held both opponents under 100 points in games that each had an extra 5 minutes tacked on for good measure. After a 30 points 1st quarter, the Pelicans managed only 68 points in the remaining 41 minutes, or about an average of 20 pts/quarter. The Timberwolves had a 26 point 1st quarter, and only scored 64 points in the remaining 41 minutes. In particular, the 2nd half defense was great in both games. 41 points for New Orleans (then 9 in OT), and an astonishing 28 points Minnesota (then 7 in OT).

Defense is the most reliable “skill” in the NBA, and why great teams value it so highly. Even those these two games were pretty ugly and took a lot of ‘pounding the rock’ to win, it’s still a positive sign of how the team is playing that they were able to get these wins. Even playing an extra 10 minutes over 2 nights.

The Spurs play the Rockets in San Antonio on Monday night. Nothing brings me more joy than beating the Rockets, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spurs lose this game after their recent hectic schedule. What will be most interesting is how Pop plays it. Does he test a strategy he might imply against the Rockets in a potential playoff match-up? Or does he play it close to the vest?

Go Spurs Go.