Season 49, Game 57
San Antonio 108, Sacramento 92
48-9, 2nd in the West

The Kings play a game that is about 85% basketball, and 15% something else. I’m not quite sure what that something else is, but it’s hard to adjust to.

The pace is kind of frenetic, players are everywhere; about half the time a Kings player can’t be bothered to get back on defense, leading to easy cherry pick situations. For a large portion of the game, I was angry at the Spurs’ transition defense, until I realized it’s near impossible to play effective transition defense against a team who is barely playing traditional NBA defense themselves.

The Spurs put up 108 points despite a pretty poor offensive night. Kawhi and LaMarcus shot a combined 7-of-27. LaMarcus just hasn’t looked right since the All-Star Break, and Kawhi clearly had some rust after being off for so long. They both did other things quite well, particularly Aldridge in guarding Cousins on defense. I was really impressed with how willingly he accepted the challenge and got physical with him. Cousins got it going a bit in the 3rd quarter, but that was about all the Kings could muster.

While our stars struggled (including Duncan, but that’s a story for another day), our role players carried the day. Kyle Anderson, in particular, looked like a savvy vet out there, playing point forward for the second unit, and showing off his new and improving silky jumper. I thought he was the MVP of the game, and his confidence is finally catching up to his game.

Elsewhere, Mills, West, Green, and Diaw all contributed, each adding little spurts when the team needed it. Patty’s shooting helped push the lead to start the 4th, West banged on both ends, and Green’s 3s helped keep the offense running smoothly.

It’s hard to get a feel for this Spurs team. They keep winning games on the road, yet they’re not winning as impressively as they did to start the year. Does that matter? Are we really concerned about style points right now? Can we actually even extract any larger-scale interpretations from it?

We’re 5-1 on the Rodeo Road Trip and 49-7 overall. Is it just the large shadow of the Warriors looming over the entirety of the league this season that makes the Spurs’ season feel less special, even as it continues to be the best ever for this highly accomplished team?

Meh. I guess we’ll find out.

The Spurs have a quick (and tough) back to back, playing tonight in Utah. This has schedule loss written all over it. Let’s see how the team responds.

Go Spurs Go.