Season 48, Game 51
Toronto 87, San Antonio 82
32-19, 7th in the West
Despite the loss and bleak performance, there is a bright side to this game: the Spurs shot a miserable 33% and still had a chance to win with under a minute left. It’s almost impossible for a professional basketball team to shoot as bad as the Spurs did tonight, yet they were able to remain in the game.
If we want to justify the loss, that’s where we can start. We can also say that Toronto is a really good team (a true statement) that plays well at home, and San Antonio always seems to struggle the further north they get (a theory I have that I’m presenting as true). If one or two more shots fall (and the Spurs had a bunch of shots just rim out, including two 3-pointers), the Spurs maybe escape with a win. If Manu, Tony, Tim, and Kawhi don’t shoot a combined 15 for 57 (26%; when will that ever happen again?), perhaps the Spurs eke this one out, and we just call it an ugly win. Instead, we have an ugly loss.
And full credit to Toronto: they played really great defense. They were active and aggressive, and they were tall inside, protecting the rim. The Spurs missed a ton of shots at the rim, in large part from Toronto’s defensive presence.
All of this is true, and maybe the loss is just that, an aberration chalked up to any team beating any other team on any given night. But there are also parts of this loss that are worrisome, evidence built up over 51 games that can no longer be ignored. The team isn’t a championship team right now.
We’ve discussed Parker’s struggles quite a bit. After a one-game reprieve against the Heat, Parker was back to being stinky. His shot is not falling and he’s struggling to even run the offense. It’s no mistake that most of the Spurs’ runs happen with the second unit when Parker is on the bench. I think most Spurs fans, whether they realize it or not, feel better when Cory, Patty, or Manu is running the team.
But Pop has to ride with Parker. There’s a chance that we could have easily won this game in the 4th quarter with Cory or Patty playing crunch time. But that’s sacrificing the war to win the battle. No individual game is bigger than the season, and this season is going nowhere without Parker being Parker. He must keep playing. Either he’ll get back or he won’t. But until he does (if he does), this team will continue to struggle.
Of team-wide concern, the Spurs let the Raptors push them around and dominate the game physically. Toronto was the more aggressive team, the more forceful team, and the hungrier team. The Spurs kept going inside, and the Raptors kept destroying them in there. It was hard to watch. San Antonio isn’t always the more physical team, but they rarely get overwhelmed by overly physical teams, and they never let it affect their execution. Tonight both happened.
The largest concern is that the Spurs just can’t get any forward momentum this season. They seem stuck in place. They have enough talent and enough corporate knowledge to continue to win the games they should and remain the 7-seed in the West; but there are no signature wins, no winning streaks. They continue to win 2 out of every 3 games or so, but always lose just when you think they might be turning it on. They are not demonstrably better than any other team.
Tonight’s game was a great example. There’s no shame in losing to Toronto in Toronto, and I kind of expected them to lose this game. Which is the problem: the Spurs are not exceeding any expectations right now, just meeting them.
Up next, the team travels to Indiana on Monday night to face the Pacers on a back-to-back. I expect this team to win 2 of the first 3 on the Rodeo Road Trip, so I expect them to win this game.
