Season 50, Game 50
San Antonio 121, Denver 97
39-11, 2nd in the West

On a night when Gregg Popovich recorded his 1,128th career regular season win – besting Jerry Sloan for most wins with one franchise – it’s fitting that he was led by his two elder statesmen, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Parker has feasted on the Nuggets this season. After shooting 10-for-11 in the previous meeting, he was a scorching 8-for-8 tonight, for 18 points in just 23 minutes. He was steady in the first half, but really came on at the beginning of the second half, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Nuggets. Parker isn’t what he used to be, but if we can still get these concentrated doses of his brilliance, the team is still in good shape.

Not to be bested, Ginobili also scored 18 points, but all in 10 (10!!) first half minutes. Shooting 4-of-5 from deep and 4-of-4 from the line will do that. Much like Parker, Ginobili is still a key cog in the system in limited minutes. Part of the secret of aging gracefully is honestly accepting your limitations and playing within them. Both Parker and Ginobili have done that brilliantly this season.

Denver, playing their fourth game in five nights, ran out of gas early in the second half. The Spurs kept putting it on them, and we got to garbage time early. I love garbage time. I love watching Murray, and Bertans, and Simmons out there showing their stuff, pushing their limits, and working on their games. Simmons, in particular, was feisty in garbage time. You can see him developing and adding to his game. He could be a critical factor in the playoffs this season, and I love seeing his confidence grow.

While Pop would shrug it off, it’s nice to see him hit this milestone at home. It speaks to the consistent excellence with which he’s guided this franchise. And he’s got a whole bunch more wins in front of him.

And now the Rodeo Road Trip commences. This year’s schedule isn’t as tough as in years past, with an East Coast swing before the All-Star break, followed by two game in Los Angeles to close it out. 6-2 is realistic, though 5-3 is also likely. Anything worse than .500 would probably be a disappointment, given the schedule and the team’s performance on the road this season.

Up first: the Memphis Grizzlies, probably the second most challenging team on the trip. Oddly, these two Division foes haven’t played yet this season, which means we’ll see a bunch of this squad in the next few months. I’m very interested in this game, as Memphis has been a surprise this season (they do it every season, so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise anymore), continuing to play their grit-n-grind style of play while also opening up the offense a bit. It will be a good test for the Spurs.

Go Spurs Go.

Season 50, Game 49
San Antonio 102, Philadelphia 86
38-11, 2nd in the West

I was excited to see Joel Embiid; I was happy he wasn’t playing.

The Sixers aren’t as bad as you think. Perception often lags behind reality, and the Sixers of the last few years (punching bag of the NBA) don’t exist anymore. Sure, they’re not great, but they win games. They’re competitive. They even have an outside shot at the #8 seed in the East. They’re good. And ‘good’ is a huge step up from where they were.

On this night, however, they were missing Embiid and Nerlens Noel, thus making them closer to what they were than what they are. The Spurs seemed to approach the game as if they were facing last year’s Sixers, and it’s hard to blame them. They didn’t play poorly in the first half, they just weren’t sharp. They missed easy layups, made careless passes, and generally played with the energy and intensity of a team expecting to win.

The second half was a different story. They turned up the juice. The defense was on point, holding the Sixers to just 33 points all half. They made their rotations quicker, they jumped passing lanes and turned the ball over, they forced tough shots. On offense, they just tightened things up.

Jonathon Simmons was particularly good in the second half. It’s amazing the development he’s made this season. He no longer relies solely on his athleticism to be a plus-player (though that athleticism sure is spectacular); he’s become an honest to God basketball player. Pop has given him more and more free reign in the offense, and he’s even put the ball in his hand a bunch to be a primary and secondary ballhandler and playmaker, a la Manu Ginobili.

Thursday’s game really marked the first time I’ve noticed him not only comfortable in this role, but excelling. He made several forays to the basket that ended with clever layups and sweeping hooks. He also drew contact and got to the free throw line, always a good thing for personal stats and team success.

Simmons will need to be great for the Spurs to make noise in the playoffs. Remember, last season he basically got relegated to the bench once the big boy games came along (rightly or wrongly). To be great in the playoffs, top end talent needs to show up. Depth and breadth can carry you far in the regular season (why the Spurs have maintained such success over the years), but the top of your roster needs to show up in the post-season.

That’s what makes this post-season so intriguing. The best players on the roster (Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge) have never really had spectacular playoffs as the lead players (Leonard obviously has had great success as secondary talent). Several of our key bench players have never really had playoff success, period. Our most battle-tested veterans are clearly no longer what they once were and should ease into secondary and tertiary roles.

The team is a great regular season team. But in many ways they are a neophyte playoff team. With the Warriors where they are, that isn’t necessarily bad. Taking the long view, these next few seasons could be about getting seasoning for the “new” roster, perhaps getting ready for a push in a few years.

And if we arrive ahead of schedule? I’d be happy to go toe-to-toe with the Warriors.

The Spurs face the Nuggets at home on Saturday night.

Go Spurs Go.