Season 49, Game 50
San Antonio 116, Dallas 90
42-8, 2nd in the West
Beating the Mavs has lost a bit of its luster.
After nearly a decade of the Mavs-Spurs secretly being the best rivalry in the NBA, the thrill is mostly gone. I still get a kick out of beating them, but I am unable to summon the “sports hate” I once had for them. I’ve always enjoyed Dirk, Carlisle is a great coach, and while the roster still has some pests (Barea, Pachulia), it doesn’t have the likes of Jason Terry, a player whose visage causes a slow simmer of anger to boil up inside of me.
Dallas is still good, but they’re not the Western contender they once were; just another mini-powerhouse the Spurs have outlived.
While the Mavs played much better in the second half, it’s hard to get too worked up about anything that happened in that 24 minute period (other than ZaZa’s antics). The game was essentially over at 62-26. Of course, there’s nothing worse than a huge halftime lead, because you spend the entire second half waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did, but it makes for an exhausting and mostly enjoyable hour of your life.
So let’s remember positive things. The Spurs were damn good tonight. After a rough defensive stretch, the Spurs got back to their dominating ways in that first half. 26 speaks for itself. I was particularly happy with the team effort in rebounding, as the guards dug back to help the bigs on the glass.
The offense looked really sharp, too. Aldridge continued his hot shooting and dominating play, mixing in his usual feathery jumper with strong interior moves. Leonard was very aggressive, dominating every match-up he saw. His shooting stroke seems to be returning after a bit of a downturn.
Everyone else fit in exactly where they should. The bench looked really solid in the absence of Ginobili. (Manu suffered the freakiest of freaky injuries. I’m sure every guy out there feels a twang of sympathy pains for our beloved guard).
On the positive side, much in the way Aldridge has seemed to find his footing with Duncan out, Ginobili’s time off will allow other bench players to hopefully find a groove and rhythm that can carry into the end of the regular season and then the post-season.
The Spurs return home for a back-to-back against the Lakers tonight. This has trap game potential as the Lakers have been playing better of late. If the Spurs play with focus and appropriate fear, they should remain unbeaten at home.
Go Spurs Go.
