Season 49, Game 71
San Antonio 112, Miami 88
60-11, 2nd in the West

With 3:37 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Danny Green pulled up for a 3 and connected, making the score 80-57 and pushing the Spurs lead to 23 points.

Having learned the lessons from two nights earlier, the team was not going to let this 23-point cushion slip away. Two and a half minutes later, the lead was 29 and Boban Marjanovic was checking in, as sure a sign the Spurs have that a game is out of hand.

Nineteen Marjanovic points later, the lead would crest at 31 points, before the Heat’s last minute ‘run’ put it back to a more respectable 24.

The Spurs are a different team at home than they are on the road, but this was still an encouraging response to the dispiriting loss two nights earlier in Charlotte. Whatever doubts that lingered around the collective psyche of the team after surrendering such a substantial lead was quickly erased by their performance against the Heat.

(AP Photo/Darren Abate)

Kawhi Leonard was the catalyst. This is what is expected of superstars, and this is what we should expect from Kawhi. After appearing out of sync and at times lost in the Charlotte game, Kawhi came out with an aggressiveness and ferocity that left little question as to who the best player on the court was. He seemed determined to impose his will on offense, a trait we haven’t seen a lot of yet.

Let’s hope we see it more. With Kawhi’s mixture of skill, size, strength, and athleticism, he is near unguardable… when he wants to be. He scored 32 points on 21 shots while collecting 8 rebounds… in about 24 minutes of action. His jumper was on, but he wasn’t settling for it. He was aggressive and drawing fouls, a necessary next step for his game.

The rest of the team seemed dialed in, as well. Green continued to play strong defense, but also chipped in 3 3-pointers. Funny how good he looks when he’s doing everything he does so well and hitting shots. Martin had a good showing, scoring 12 points. Everybody chipped in, scoring here and there, but always playing within themselves and the system. Really, the Heat have no chance against a locked in Spurs team at home.

Then there’s Boban. It’s so hard to get a feel for what his game could be in this league. His lack of speed and mobility is a huge detriment in today’s game, but his combination of size (SIZE!) and surprisingly soft touch is a wholly unique and rare combination. His array of moves and jumpers against Whiteside were impressive for a man half a foot shorter, let alone a 7’3″ giant.

I doubt he’ll get much serious playing time in the playoffs, as interesting as it would be to see. Long-term, though, I hope the Spurs are able to hold on to him and develop him. There’s a solid NBA player in there, and no team is as good at unearthing talent as the Spurs are.

The Spurs welcome a decimated-by-injury Memphis Grizzlies to San Antonio tomorrow night. With a quick back-to-back Saturday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kawhi sits out both games to rest his injured quad. The Spurs should beat the pesky Grizzlies at home with or without him, and Saturday night in Oklahoma City has ‘rest game’ written all over it.

Go Spurs Go.

Season 49, Game 70
San Antonio 88, Charlotte 91
59-11, 2nd in the West

Eleven seconds into the 2nd quarter, David West made a layup to put the Spurs up 23 points on the Hornets. The score was 30-7, and the rout was on. Charlotte coach Steve Clifford called a timeout, not happy with what he was seeing.

For the remaining 35 minutes and 49 seconds, the Hornets eviscerated the Spurs. They put up quarters of 29, 31, and 24 points. They outscored the Spurs by 26 points, 84-58. 84 points in 3 quarters is pretty bad defense; 58 points in 3 quarters is pretty lousy offense.

The game was ‘close’ only because the Hornets spotted the Spurs a quarter, basically. For the majority of the game, though, the Hornets were by far the better team. And it started after that timeout.

It happens at least once a season, so consider this your annual reminder: there’s nothing Pop hates more than a big first quarter lead. (I tend to agree. There’s nothing more agonizing than watching a huge lead slowly slip away, like the methodical dripping of a leaky faucet.) There’s way too much time in an NBA game, and the players are too good. Eventually the worm will turn, and things will start to equalize.

When that turn eventually comes, the team that was down will often have the edge. They will have been playing with more energy and more desperation for longer. They will have raised their activity and effort level a significant amount to get back into the game. The team that had the big lead will often be stunned by the increased intensity, scrambling to match.

Once the game got tight in the second half, the Hornets had more players playing better and with more energy than the Spurs did. The Spurs started strong, but they just couldn’t find that next gear to match the speed the Hornets eventually arrived at. It started with the bench units. Jeremy Lin and Jeremy Lamb, in particular, came in during that second quarter and were a jolt of frenetic activity. Lamb was creating chaos on defense, and Lin started penetrating and breaking down the Spurs defense, flashing back to the old ‘Linsanity’ days.

Nobody on the Spurs bench could match. Usually a strength, the Spurs bench has been a pretty big liability of late (and in other big games this season). When they are humming, they are an unstoppable machine. When they are even slightly off, they can appear slow and very ordinary. The Hornets reserves outscored the Spurs 41-18, and turned the tide of the game in favor of Charlotte permanently.

You know what else the Hornets did? They made 3-pointers — 8 of them, in fact (twice as many as the once-again ice cold Spurs.) Clutch 3-pointers, at that. Imagine that. Desperate for a 3 in the 4th quarter, the Spurs threw up brick after brick from deep, going 0 for 7 in the quarter. Ouch.

This speaks to a much larger problem with the Spurs’ offense: while it has moved away from the ‘pace and space’ offense of the last few seasons, it is still dependent upon shots at the rim and shots from deep to open everything else up. Unfortunately, the team is mired in a huge slump from deep, which is allowing defenses to pack in the paint, helping to seal off the rim… and all that’s left is the midrange jumper. We know utilizing the midrange shot is key to beating the Warriors and counteracting current NBA trends, but it can’t be the offensive weapon in the arsenal.

Finally, Kawhi had a really bad night. Give Charlotte credit: they defended him as well as I’ve seen a team be able to all season long. Batum in particular was able to use his length to bother Kawhi while not getting overpowered by Kawhi’s strength inside. Leonard seemed to mentally drift in and out of the game, and was a non-factor late, when we needed a go-to scorer to take the game home.

This is part of the learning process. While the loss stings in the moment, it really isn’t a big deal in the long run. It’s a testament to how amazing this season has been that we might actually worry about losing a road game to a really good Eastern Conference team fighting for their playoff lives. The fact that the defense was able to hold a team to a 7-point quarter might be the most notable thing to take away from this game.

The Spurs are 59-11. The team is fine. The only thing that loss really did was put to rest the notion that the team might actually catch the Warriors for the 1-seed. While mathematically true, that was always a dream.

The Spurs are locked into that 2-seed, on a collision course with both the Thunder and the Warriors in the playoffs. The rest of the regular season is all process, not results. Yes, I’d like to rack up those wins and see how high we can get that number. Yes, I’d like to see the team remain undefeated at home.

The Spurs are the Spurs, though, because they don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees; they don’t start their kick at mile 20 of the marathon. The next 12 games are a tune-up for the second season.

The real season.

Miami comes to town Wednesday night.

Go Spurs Go.