Category: Recaps (Page 13 of 171)

Season 51, Game 58
San Antonio 99, Utah 101
35-23, 3rd in the West

If you strip away the manner in which the team lost, this game actually should be encouraging. (We’ll emphasize the should be for now, as there is no encouragement in Spurs-land these days.)

Down their three best scorers playing the hottest team in the league on their own floor, this game had the makings of a blowout. Outside of LaMarcus Aldridge–who did not play–the team’s most consistent players have been a 40-year old and the #30 draft pick from a few years ago with the nickname “SloMo”.

This doesn’t inspire confidence. And yet, the team fought hard (as they typically do), and had a 13-point lead early in the 4th quarter. But continuing the trend of the last few months, the Spurs just can’t seem to have nice things. The Jazz are like the less flashy version of the Spurs (is that even possible?), and they executed just a bit crisper, shot just a bit better, and got slightly better production from their role players, eking out a 2-point victory.

The Jazz should have won. I can’t stress this enough: the Spurs did not have their three best scorers. They started the game already down like 60 points of regular scoring. The Jazz are playing amazing right now, and probably have superior talent at most positions.

Yet the loss still stung. The game felt like a chance to turn the season around. Instead, it was just another stall out in a season full of false starts, dashed hopes, and diminishing returns.

Since December 12th, the Spurs are 16-15, a .500 team. That’s 31 games, well over half the season. In that 2-month span, they have a net rating of +2.4. This is still 8th in the NBA, but decidedly not excellent. The team’s offensive rating in this time is 104.5, 23rd in the league, behind such offensive luminaries like the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls.

That’s the problem: for most of the season, the team has been decidedly average, missing their best player, and suffering through a rash of injuries and absences from their other players. There has been no extended streak of health or rhythm, no chance to actually engage in the season. It’s been months long battle of attrition.

It’s been wearing on the team and its fans. I’m ready for the All-Star break. And I’m sure most of the Spurs are, too.

First, though, the team must complete what might be the most difficult back-to-back in the league: Utah and Denver on consecutive nights. That’s insane. The Spurs should not win on Tuesday night, but here’s hoping they do to provide some glimmer of hope heading into the extended break.

Go Spurs Go.

Season 51, Game 55
San Antonio 111, Utah 120
34-21, 3rd in the West

The Spurs are in a funk.

An extended funk that seems to have no particular rhyme or reason. Sure, there’s a bit of drama swirling around the team. But the funk started before that. Yes, the team hasn’t been fully healthy all season, but the Spurs have overcome that particular obstacle just fine in the past.

For the better part of two months, the Spurs have basically been a .500 team. It’s time to start thinking that just might be who they are.

Kawhi Leonard is not playing. Kawhi Leonard is the team’s best player. Kawhi Leonard is probably one of the five best players in the league. When you think about it in those terms, it’s easy to see why the team should be exactly average. Then you think about the roster: a couple of late first rounders, a couple of second rounders, a couple of D-leaguers, a bunch of late-late career veterans, some nice role players, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Is it surprising the team is average? Strip away the jersey, the mythos, and the culture. This is a team that should be average.

It’s hard for Spurs’ fans to accept, but it’s true.

The Spurs just played 5 games in a row at home. A “normal” Spurs team should have finished that stand 4-1. This team went 2-3, losing bookend games (Philadelphia and Utah) that they could’ve (should’ve?) won.

The offense has been a mess. Saturday against Utah, the defense was asleep. The Jazz shot 36 (!!) free throws, as they were always one to two steps ahead of the Spurs’ defense. If it wasn’t a wide open look at the rim or behind the 3-point line, the Spurs’ defender was fouling the Utah player, likely because they were moved out of position by the Jazz offense. Utah has a way of making the Spurs look bad, regardless of the team’s record. This is a feisty Jazz team. Still, the Spurs should have been ready to play, and they weren’t.

Did I mention that Jazz played the night before in Phoenix and didn’t arrive in San Antonio until about 5am Saturday morning? And yet they completely outplayed and outexecuted a rested Spurs team playing their 5th game in a row at home.

The Spurs are in a funk, and I’m not sure what solves it, besides the obvious answer. But even the return of Kawhi Leonard brings its own set of questions and concerns.

As it stands, the team is going to have to attempt to figure it out on the road, as they embark on their annual Rodeo Road Trip (RRT), not returning home again until the last day of February. Oddly, though, the RRT is only 6 games played over the span of 19 days, with a long 10-day hiatus over the All-Star break.

Hopefully they can figure some things out this month.

The RRT kicks off Wednesday night in Phoenix.

Go Spurs Go.