Season 50, Game 75
San Antonio 100, Oklahoma City 95
58-17, 2nd in the West
The Spurs led the Thunder for a whopping 37 seconds on Friday night, but it just so happened to be 37 of the final seconds of the game. And that’s all it took for the Spurs to pull out the improbable win.
Despite losing Durant, the Thunder still give the Spurs lots of trouble. It wasn’t really Durant that was the problem; it was the size and the physicality and the general defense that bothered the Spurs lo these many years (making 2014 even more incredible). None of that has really changed. Roberson still guards Leonard better than anyone else in the league; Adams and Kanter (and now Taj Gibson) still wreck the Spurs on the interior on both sides. Westbrook is the least of our worries.
It looked like all of those things were coming to pass again on Friday. Leonard and Aldridge just couldn’t get anything going; Parker looked two steps slower than normal; the Thunder–usually a poor shooting team–were hitting everything in site. It just wasn’t our night.
But Manu and the bench had other ideas. All of this worry about a once lightning-quick PG whose lost all the steps and seems to be a lead weight on the potential of this team; but you know who is not an existential drag? Manu Ginobili. Despite an even more advanced age (and lost steps), he’s still effective breaking down defenses, making great passes, and being a spark plug off the bench. And his outside shooting might be better than ever.
This would never happen, but imagine Manu starting at PG for the Spurs? It could just be crazy enough to work. The problem is Manu is still only great in bursts. After about 28 minutes, the returns likely start diminishing at a rapid rate. Manu must be used in the right dosage. But in those bursts, he seems to be playing as good as ever.
The turning point of this game was likely when both Adams and Roberson went to the bench with foul trouble and the Spurs bench (with Leonard) was able to make a run that put the game back in reach. With the middle opening up and not being hounded every step, Kawhi found his rhythm and his stroke. He’s still struggling with the 3-ball (it looks like he is pushing the shot, rather than stroking it), but he made a couple of big ones.
Aldridge struggled offensively most of the game, but as has been the theme of late, he played great defense and did a bunch of dirty work to pull out the win. His block on Westbrook on that final crucial possession was the play of the game. People don’t think of Aldridge as a defensive ace, but when he’s locked in, he has the length and timing to be a wonderful rim protector.
Despite the win, I still want no part of this team in the first round. They have a defense built for the playoffs (as we learned the hard way last season), and Russell Westbrook is the personification of a wild card. He could shoot the team out of a playoff game or also single-handedly win them a playoff series. You don’t want that kind of volatility in the playoffs.
Ironically, the Spurs winning this game made this first-round match-up much more likely. The Grizzlies are still the most likely opponent, but with Memphis winning tonight and OKC losing, the margin between those two teams tightened.
Of course, the Spurs can help their cause by beating the Grizzlies next week. And beating the Jazz two more times (to help the Thunder move up). And beating the Clippers. Four through seven in the West is still up for grabs, and the Spurs play all of them to close out the season. The Spurs will play a very active role in determining not only their first round opponent, but the first round opponent of the Rockets, and the second round opponent of the Warriors.
Up next, the Utah Jazz at home on Sunday afternoon.
Go Spurs Go.
