There’s not much to say about this game. It was coming, and we all knew it. We always throw a giant stinkbomb in the middle of a win streak, just so the streak doesn’t get too long and the rest of the league doesn’t start to notice. Hell, I think Pop even sometimes tries to throw these games a bit (or at least make us play with a handicap). He didn’t start Duncan. His logic was sound, but by the time he came into the game, we were dug into a hole that we never got out of.
In all honesty, we didn’t play that poorly. Our defense actually played quite well, holding a potent offensive team to 43% shooting and just 91 points. The real problem was our offense. Putrid would be a good word for it. We weren’t attacking, we weren’t sharing, our passing was weak and ineffectual, we passed up open shots to dribble into traffic. And when we did put up shots, they were flat.
In the fourth quarter we were in striking distance, and we turned it up. But there is no magic button to push that can suddenly make you play better and smarter. We gave a great effort, but we were too far behind and too mediocre to win tonight.
Pop is quoted as saying that “not much happens in the first quarter of a game”. Knowing Pop, this could just be sarcasm. But a lot does happen in the first quarter. Things like missing 5 free throws (sure would like those back in a 5 point loss), or failing to score a point in the last 5 minutes of the quarter and allowing the other team to push out to an 8 point lead–3 more than the final margin.
For whatever reason, we didn’t come to play tonight, and we still almost won the game just on the force of our natural talent and schemes. Don’t worry too much about the loss, and don’t read too much into it. It was a tough back to back on the road. Every team has these games.
