Season 51, Game 12
San Antonio 87, Milwaukee 94
7-5, 5th in the West
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
San Antonio dropped to 7-5 on the year after a 94-87 home loss to Milwaukee last night, mostly because the Spurs couldn’t help but give away the ball like it was a car and the Bucks were audience members at a taping of Oprah. San Antonio turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 19 fast-break points for the Milwaukee offense. The Spurs, on the other hand, only mustered eight fast-break points in the contest.
This, as you might expect, is a really bad strategy when you’re playing against a team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is not a human being. Giannis is an especially difficult player for the Spurs defend when the cyborg they built in a lab – who exists precisely for defending aliens like Giannis – is unable to play.
Kawhi Leonard can’t come back fast enough. Watching San Antonio play without Leonard is like watching a really talented cover band. They do a lot of things right, but at the end of the day it’s a shell of what you wish you were seeing.
Despite all this, the Spurs went on a late run to get the game within two points with just over a minute to go. However, Bucks newcomer Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton sunk a couple jumpers while San Antonio misfired on a pair of threes and the rest is history.
More quick thoughts on this one:
- Rudy Gay didn’t have a good night, but I’m still getting goosebumps thinking about how Pop is going to use him, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Leonard together later this season
- Kyle Anderson continues to fill in admirably for Leonard, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say he’s going to be even more awesome when he’s the Spurs’ seventh man
- The Spurs do not have a starting point guard and it is really becoming a problem
- Dejounte Murray played fewer minutes than both Brandon Paul and Bryn Forbes. I still think Sweet Honey Dejounte is the PG of the future, but it’s very obvious that he’s not the PG of the now
- San Antonio was out-rebounded 58-44
- Milwaukee outscored the Spurs 52-44 in the paint
The Spurs have a chance to start another win streak tonight as they host Lauri Markkanen and the Chicago Bulls at 7:30pm CT.
Go Spurs Go.
