El Conclusion: Dallas Mavericks 104, San Antonio Spurs 97

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San Antonio Spurs 94 FinalRecap | Box Score 101 Dallas Mavericks
Tim Duncan, PF 24 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -9 +/-

Defense looked good to start, offense didn’t so much. Then he rested for OKC.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 36 MIN | 7-16 FG | 5-6 FT | 9 REB | 3 AST | 4 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 19 PTS | -7 +/-

So he was awesome mostly. But Monta torched him and everyone else. Also, Kawhi’s 3-point shooting is a problem at the moment. I’m sure that’s all ligament tear related, but that might be worse because it’s not like he’s just in a funk. That’s an issue that will hang around all season.

Tiago Splitter, C 22 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 8 PTS | -8 +/-

Really liked what he gave the Spurs. The interior defense has been good. He defended Dirk well. He’s playing with a ton of confidence and that’s crucial for the playoffs.

Tony Parker, PG 26 MIN | 3-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 8 PTS | -12 +/-

More 3-point attempts then shots in the paint. On a night where Monta Ellis and the other wings are getting in the paint at will, Parker needs to match that aggression.

Danny Green, SG 28 MIN | 5-8 FG | 3-4 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | -3 +/-

Shot the ball well, was OK on defense. I actually thought he did a little bit better job on Monta than Kawhi did. Couple of dumb plays when the Spurs were struggling, but hey, at least he’s keep his effort level extra high.

Jeff Ayres, PF 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +6 +/-

Somehow managed to make an a pass to the top of the key look like an outlet pass. It was ugly.

Marco Belinelli, SF 19 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | -3 +/-

Belinelli continues to do a good job at the things the Spurs ask him to do. He moves the ball, he takes open shots and he stays aggressive on offense. The shots didn’t fall tonight, but I liked the looks he got.

Matt Bonner, C 11 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +2 +/-

He did dumb things like close out on Al-Farouq Aminu on a 3-point attempt, which allowed Aminu to get a dunk and the foul. But he did make his only two shot attempts, so that’s cool.

Boris Diaw, C 29 MIN | 4-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 8 PTS | +2 +/-

He wasn’t good tonight, but what he was trying to do was good. He was playing with aggression and that’s the point I’ve been trying to pound into the ground. As long as he’s aggressive, the Spurs are in good shape.

Patty Mills, PG 21 MIN | 2-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +3 +/-

Look, if he’s in there I’d rather have him keep shooting. He’s either going to shoot his way back into shape or he’s not. Only one way to find out.

Manu Ginobili, SG 16 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 7 PTS | -10 +/-

He’s getting the A just because it was good to see him healthy. Got in the paint, fired some silly passes, etc.

Gregg Popovich
Don’t fall for it commenters. Just don’t.

Two Things We Saw

  1. Saw a lot of Mills/Cory Joseph tweets. It’s pretty clear at this point that Pop wants Patty in the playoff rotation over CoJo. Probably because when things are rolling, the Patty-Manu-Beli backcourt is a terror for opposing second man units. Maybe he gets it back, maybe he doesn’t, but I get the rationale.
  2. So the Thunder are next up. They also just played a back to back and are all kinds of injured. And they’re terrible on defense. The Spurs should win that one regardless of what heroics Russell Westbrook has up his sleeve.
  • Ed Yates

    Look this IS the Spurs. They are a 7 seed. Parker was embarrassingly bad again. Mills was terrible and the defense was, again, a joke. You would have to watch the tape to prove Leonard was on the court during the 3rd qrtr, he completely disappeared. I’m sure the Spurs will win the rematch later this week, but I do not expect them to beat OKC. Westbrook will probably go for 50 on his way to a quadruple-double, and guess what? Next week at this time they’ll be….a 7 seed. I’m as big a Spurs fan as anyone and want to see them win, but this is too obvious. They are a 1 and done team and begin the new era next season. Sad but true. I know a lot of people got excited by their 8-2 run at home against a bunch of average or worse teams, I didn’t. The only good team they beat was Atlanta and they are in a slump. 7 seed. Accept it. They’ve given a lot, I don’t believe there’s anymore magic.

  • brunostrange

    Two steps forward, one step back. That seems to be the mantra for this team of late. It almost seemed as though, after a dominant first quarter, the team decided to take its foot off the gas. Way too many games this season when SA hasnt matched its opponent’s competitiveness, perhaps that’s an unfortunate characteristic of this year’s squad, which they likely won’t shake off (I mean, there’s only like a dozen games to go).

    On another note, I do hope Pop starts giving CoJo some of Patty’s minutes. How many awful games can Mills have before a change comes? Joseph played very well in Mill’s absence, and besides, the team needs him in rhythm on nights like tonight when Parker has an atrocious defensive night. Also, let’s hope Pop plays Green on Ellis on Friday ( this is my passive aggressive way of telling you that you’re crazy for giving Pop an A +).

    BTW, how about signing Monta Ellis in the off-season?

  • hoopsaf

    If Kawhi didn’t miss any time, Spurs are better than 7th. I think likely the 2nd or the 3rd.
    However, even if Spurs improve in time for playoffs, it may not matter. GSW is just too good this season. They have like 7 guys who are all very good to elite defenders, and basically everyone in the team outside of Bogut can shoot the lights out.

    Curry, Thompson, Bogut, Green, Iguodala, Livingston, Barnes, Lee -> All of them are from above-average to elite players!

    Kawhi will have to dominate the game on both ends of the court while everyone contributes (and Parker can’t self-destruct like he did today) if Spurs want to even have a chance at these guys. I think he’s capable and might dominate the league in a couple of years, but it will be hard.

  • hoopsaf

    Tony basically lost the game in the 3rd. He gets an F from me. His 3rd quarter contributions are:

    Tony Parker makes 8-foot two point shot
    Tony Parker offensive foul (Rajon Rondo draws the foul)
    Tony Parker out of bounds lost ball turnover
    Tony Parker misses 18-foot jumper
    Tony Parker bad pass
    Tony Parker misses free throw 1 of 2
    Tony Parker makes free throw 2 of 2
    Tony Parker personal block (Chandler Parsons draws the foul)
    Tony Parker misses three point jumper
    Tony Parker lost ball turnover (Charlie Villanueva steals)

    When Tony is bad offensively, he’s got nothing to offer the team.

    And I don’t think Kawhi’s issue with 3 pointers is ligament. Pop said it actually healed without requiring surgery. It’s probably just a combination of injury and lack of rhythm from the range due to time missed.

  • Nima K.

    They just have to want it. More than the other teams. period

  • thedrwolff

    The burst in the first quarter is dallas getting taken to claw school. We shot horrible tonight. everyone except Kawhi. Splitter looks good. I want you to understand deeply what’s going on in our starting line up. Duncan can’t score from the block with efficiency any longer, Green NEEDS open catch and shoot looks, Splitter is an excellent off the ball action guy and a decent pick and roll player….except…he needs someone to run the pick and roll who is a threat to score. Kawhi is learning how to be a 20 point a night scorer and WHEN to push that pedal…for now a 19/9 with 4 steals and a block is more then good enough out of Kawhi. We get killed because if Parker doesnt score high teens+ we simply have no other scoring threats. Pop KNOWS what he’s saying. If TP is not TP then we don’t stand a chance. Splitter can be off. Green can have a bad night and Duncan can clean up garbage at the rim only…but if TP cant get to the rim or hit open midrange shots we are SOOO toasted.

  • Spurs Fan in Australia

    So, I’m curious, was Parker just not aggressive or did Rondo defend him well?

    Sometimes I get down about these and the Knicks losses and then I realize we just won our 5th Duncan/Popvich title and 4th with the Big 3 and think I should just enjoy the fact that they are still genuine contenders at their best and enjoy whatever may happen.

    May not be too long and I will be wishing we had losses like tonight to worry about.

  • mac

    “Don’t fall for it commenters. Just don’t.” You fell for it.

  • mac

    Parker looked unmotivated and seemed distracted tonight.

  • Easy B

    How do you be motivated when you won last year and the west is so stacked that home court isn’t that big of a deal? Rockets 95 all over again I hope - especially if we beat the rockets en route

  • Governmentname

    The Mavs were switching & Tony kept settling for jumper when he wasn’t throwing the ball away. Then he had an opportunity for a breakaway layup & he got stripped so he was very lackadaisical.

  • Governmentname

    Tony has to attack when they switch on defense just like he did in Gm 7. Besides, Tiago works best w/ Manu who happened to be rusty thus the team had no play-makers besides Kawhi.

  • Governmentname

    Yeah, Kawhi even in the past has been a mediocre 3 point shooter in the 1st half of the season & he eventually picks it up all the way through the postseason. He has been improving his percentage week by week but he just didn’t have it tonight.

  • Governmentname

    Patty is going to keep getting the backup minutes until he proves to be a liability in the 1st rd of the playoffs. You have to remember that Pop is stubborn & George Hill/Tiago didn’t get their first postseason starts until Tony/Blair proved to be liabilities.

  • Governmentname

    GSW’s krytonite are the Clippers who are most likely going to end up being the 5th seed thus will be on a collision course w/ GSW. If Blake/Crawford are healthy then it could be a long series since Paul/Redick have been able to neutralize Curry/Klay & Blake/DeAndre have overpowered Draymond/Bogut/Lee. The X-factor would be Iggy since he can defend Paul & take advantage of the Clippers wing players or lack-thereof.

  • merkin

    The Spurs are 0-2 in call-out games. Rose called out his team before Spurs game and, recently, Carlisle called out his team, questioned their soul, no less.

  • BigBadBruce

    That’s not the “rational” you’re looking for.

  • Dan

    Last PO we won against OKC with TD and Manu and NO Parker. The problem, as I see it, its not about Parker can get to the rim or hit some shots. The problem is that he is not a play maker any more. The offensive when he is on the court doesn´t flows, he is keeping the ball too much and that make us predictable. Manu is the best play maker right now, Mills is just awful

  • Ed Yates

    We fell for reality. I think maybe others shouldn’t keep falling for the “Oh, great the REAL Spurs are here now!!”, only to be punched in the face with the reality another performance like last night, and then after beating a couple crap teams “falling for it” again….
    “Oh NOW, the Real Spurs are back. For real THIS time!”

  • Ed Yates

    How about giving Cojo some of Parkers’ minutes? He stunk start to finish and if you’re being honest he looked like crap against Atlanta, it just didn’t matter.

  • TD BestEVER

    We lost because Pop refuses to pull in the reins on Bad TP the way he does bad Many
    Manu……We don’t NEED TP to win most nights…..all we need is ball movement…the past few games we have been playing more through our post players in the high or low post and back door cuts….last night I only saw one cut…..pop make tp play off the ball and call some plays please!!!

  • Ed Yates

    I’m with you. Appreciate what they’ve done. Everything comes to an end, eventually.

  • brunostrange

    I don’t get the joke. Not sure why Pop is beyond reproach - if that’s the case, why give him a grade? If he’s trying to troll us, it’s a lame attempt.

  • brunostrange

    I don’t recall him being bad against ATL, though admittedly he was awful against DAL. Problem with CoJo getting TP’s minutes in that opposing defenses don’t respect his offensive game - with good reason, dude can’t shoot. PG is a big question mark for SA going forward though.

  • Ed Yates

    Parker had 8 pt.’s, 5 assists + 2 TO’s against ATL. Basically nothing, but he picked up some assists because everyone else was shooting well. I remember thinking “That’s not good” and it was on my mind as this last game started, hoping he’d be better. He wasn’t.

  • Ed Yates

    As far as Cojo goes, I agree he’s not a great shooter, but he IS energetic all the time and is pretty good getting into the pain. The things Parker used to be good at.