Category: Featured (Page 13 of 78)

Season 49, Game 16
San Antonio 91, Denver 80
13-3, 2nd in the West

In his Pop-like wisdom, I thought my editor might give me the night off as well, being nearly the same age as Manu.

No luck. Much like the rest of the Spurs, I had to fight my way through the post-Thanksgiving slog in that first half. It was shaping up to be “one of those games” that the Spurs always give away three or four times a season. Instead, Tony and Kawhi came alive late in the 1st half, propelling the team to a 12-0 run and a lead they would never relinquish.

Thankfully, like for the rest of the team, Kawhi made my job easy tonight. He was completely dominant, handily the best player on the floor. These are the types of games we should be seeing from him more and more: where he is both outwardly and subtly dominant. Anyone who watches the Spurs closely has known his impact on games far exceeds what the numbers say. This season, the numbers are starting to catch up, and he is dominating with an ease that befits his subdued nature.

His numbers last night were startling: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks, 4 steals. (The interwebs were going crazy late in the game, as Kawhi was just one steal shy of a rare 5×5 game, when a player records a ‘5’ in 5 different categories.) More importantly, he was completely in charge of his game and the team. It was his play on both ends that shook the team out of the doldrums. His defense sparked life into the game, and his offense was just unstoppable.

Even with a legendary Big 3, the Spurs haven’t ever really had a player like this. Prime Duncan is as close as it gets, but as a big man, he never had control of the ball on offense like Kawhi can. In Kawhi, we have a player that can put the team on his back and prevent “one of those games” sheerly by force of will. Two to three extra wins a year can mean the difference between the #2 seed and the #6 seed… as we all know.

In a game that could have easily been a loss, it was nice to see the team fight through and get an easy win going away.

A few more thoughts on the win in Denver:

• Parker had another solid game after a pretty shaky opening. He looks really spry, and his jump shot is falling. I think that elbow jumper will kind of be his barometer for the rest of his career: when his shot is falling, defenses have to respect the shot, which can open up the lane for him. While Kawhi was the primary force in this game, Parker’s scoring and floor game were critical in pulling away in the 3rd quarter.

• Mills, on the other hand, had a very up and down game. He had a really nice 4th quarter with some big shots and good energy plays, but his handle and his defense are noticeably bad this season. In the past, what he lacked in size, he made up for in annoyance on the defensive end. This year, it just seems like he’s being taken advantage of.

• Aldridge didn’t get much playing time tonight. He was pulled early in the 3rd and never saw the floor again. I thought it might be to stagger his minutes with Leonard’s to make sure we always had a primary scorer on the floor. Instead, I think it was probably to save his energy and legs for Saturday’s game back home against Atlanta.

• Simmons got his first big chunk of playing time. In the first half, he seemed really hesitant and lost out there. In the second half, though, he appeared to feel more comfortable, and made some really smart and athletic plays on both ends. He got to the rim for some good baskets and hit a big 3-pointer. If he can become a reliable rotation player – even as the 11th or 12th man – that can be really big for this team. You can never have too much athleticism and good defense on the wing.

• It seemed like the Spurs ended up with a huge mismatch in the post nearly every offensive possession. I don’t know if Denver was switching a bunch, was playing really small, or a combination of both. Every time I looked up, it seemed like Boris or West was being guarded by Will Barton or Jameer Nelson. We did a good job finding the mismatches, but actually didn’t score very well against them.

• Even without Duncan, the Spurs defense was fantastic again. The last four opponents have scored 82, 84, 83, and 80, respectively. This great defense gives the offense a lot more room for error, and a buffer to allow it time to come together organically.

The Spurs have a quick turnaround, playing the Hawks at home on Saturday night.

Go Spurs Go.

Season 49, Game 15
San Antonio 88, Dallas 83
12-3, 2nd in the West

I’m thankful we got out of that game with a win.

Mavs-Spurs games have a way of always being close. It doesn’t matter how good the teams are (though both teams are usually really good). Sometimes it will be an offensive game, “last basket wins” type of game. Sometimes it will be a “grind it out, first one to 85 wins” type of game. The two teams just know each other so well and are so well-coached that there is no give either way.

I never really felt like the Mavs could win this game. Simultaneously, I never really felt like the Spurs had it in them to put the game away. It was excruciating watching brick after brick after brick both ways. Hell, some of the times the shot was so bad that it just missed everything completely. The Spurs, in particular, looked like a bunch of High School JV Team kids taking shots out there. I don’t think I’ve seen so many misses in a professional NBA game where you could just tell the shot was bad leaving the shooter’s hand. (Danny Green missed a 3 so bad that it actually banked in.)

Thankfully (on this holiday of giving thanks), the Spurs’ defense was still up to the task, limiting the Mavs to a mere 83 points. A good defense leaves a lot of room for error on the offensive side. The Spurs had a putrid stretch of offense in the third quarter where I don’t think they even got 3 clean shots at the basket. During this time, the Mavs had every chance to seize control of the game, but were only able to muster the slowest 9-0 run in the NBA since the implementation of the 24-second shot clock. It might have been a good 7 minutes of game time. (Editor’s note: it was 4 minutes 49 seconds.)

Hopefully you enjoy watching good defense, because that’s the best the Spurs have to offer this young season. The offense is still very much a work in progress. It showed flashes early in this game, as the starting unit looked the best it’s been. The ball was moving, players were making confident choices, and the team was scoring pretty easily within the confines of the system. (6 of the first 7 baskets were assisted.)

The second unit – usually the offensive spark – was a complete offensive dud in the game. Manu and Patty combined to shoot 3 of 19. (Just typing that makes me wince.) Manu was also up to his old (bad) tricks, throwing passes that only he sees, and generally being a little too careless too often. Only David West provided positive from the bench, hitting all 3 of his shots, including a buzzer beater 3 at the end of the third that gave the team a little bit of breathing room going into the final quarter.

In what is becoming a regular occurrence, Tony Parker was once again the most consistent player for the Spurs, sparking the offense and hitting some clutch baskets late. He had two of those fast break spin moves into layups, which is the best indicator that he is feeling really good.

And Kawhi. Oh, Kawhi. He closed the game for us, with two big offensive possessions in the last two minutes of the game, the final one a 3-pointer that pretty much iced the game. He also hit his first two 3s of the game, and that stroke from the elbow extended looks so good right now. He ended the night with the best stat line on the team: 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals.

And yet, I thought he had a pretty up and down game. He got lost on defense much more than we’re used to, which allowed Wes Matthews to be able to spring free for layups and open 3s too many times. He disappeared on offense for a few stretches when the team really needed him to be assertive. He seemed a little too happy to take long jumpers, even though he often had the physical mismatch to go down into the low block.

I think it’s a good thing, though, that Kawhi has a game like this and we think: he can do even better. He might be one of the 10 best players in the league, and we still think he isn’t even close to his ceiling.

Now that’s something to be thankful for.

A few more thoughts from the victory:

• Aldridge continues to impress in all of the little things: rebounding, second chance points, defensive positioning, rim protection. He’s become like a super-charged Tiago Splitter. Which isn’t a bad thing. But I don’t trust his jump shot right now – and it looks like he doesn’t either. That’s a bad thing. He’s passing up so many wide open shots that he needs to take. Instead, he is hesitating, and then either dribbling into nothing or passing the ball back out, resetting the possession. I know it’s a matter of comfort and trying to fit in, but dammit, LA, shoot the ball.

• Dirk is still completely bending our defense out of whack, causing switches that force double teams that lead to wide-open shots for the Mavs. God bless you, Dirk, still getting it done.

• Pop played some pretty small lineups tonight, a few with Kawhi at the 4. Yes, he was matching the Mavs, but he also uses the early season to do a lot of experimenting. He’s been playing Parker and Mills together a lot. Tonight he had Parker, Mills, and Manu out there for a stretch. Seeing different lineups with Kawhi at the 4 is also really important because there’s a really good team in the West that has a really good small ball lineup that the Spurs will probably have to find a counter for at some point this season.

• Speaking of Pop, his sport coat was on point tonight. I love the random 2 or 3 games each year when it’s obvious that he is rocking a new jacket. This one is Spurs Dynasty Approved.

The Spurs next play Friday night in Denver. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and…

Go Spurs Go!