Season 51, Game 37
San Antonio 79, Detroit 93
25-12, 3rd in the West

Every team has at least two or three of these “complete and utter turd” games a season.

It’s inevitable. A group of players can’t be completely focused 82 times a season. Sometimes, that collective malaise and lack of discipline hits the entire roster at once. You just have to laugh and/or shrug and allow it.

So we’ll give the Spurs a pass on this game. It was evident early on (13 points in the first quarter? that’s bad) that this just wasn’t their night. They couldn’t hit a shot. They seemed completely out of sync with each other, passing up good shots to keep the ball moving, eventually leading to bad shots. Every bounce went the other way, each 50/50 ball seemed destined towards the Pistons.

We’re not going to worry about it. We’re not going to read anything into this game. We’re not going to think about how the Spurs are now 2-4 when Kawhi plays. We’re not going to worry about how out of sync the entire roster is with Kawhi. We’re not going to dwell on the fact that he needs two days off between games. We’re not going to concern ourselves with how average he looks on defense and out-of-rhythm he looks on offense.

Nope. Don’t think about any of that. The only important number from this game is 28: the number of minutes Kawhi played.

Instead, we’re going to imagine a future where Kawhi plays 35 or so minutes a game; and he has his confidence and rhythm back; and he’s a terror on the defensive end; and he’s in sync with his teammates. What a wonderful time that will be!

The Spurs continue their 3-game Northeast swing against the Knicks on Tuesday. Having two days off in NY before playing the Knicks usually spells doom for the visiting team. Let’s hope the Spurs can avoid that fate.

Go Spurs Go.