El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 104, Indiana Pacers 97

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San Antonio Spurs 104 Final

Recap | Box Score

 97 Indiana Pacers
Tim Duncan, PF 31 MIN | 10-19 FG | 2-2 FT | 17 REB | 1 AST | 22 PTS | +15All the superlatives in the world couldn’t describe how amazing Duncan is playing for his age, or any age for that matter. Roy Hibbert has been struggling, but overall the Pacers defense has been superb and yet Duncan made it look easy. Furthermore, David West posed his usual problem until Pop switched Duncan on him in the fourth quarter. Problem solved.
DeJuan Blair, C 15 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +2On the whole, not much of an impact from Blair tonight.
Tony Parker, PG 37 MIN | 15-23 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 10 AST | 33 PTS | +23A second straight dominating performance for Tony Parker, who was simply fantastic tonight. The first quarter spin move was pulled from his best of collection and a good sign his legs are under him. Whatever struggles he may have had they seem to be behind him.
Gary Neal, PG 28 MIN | 2-5 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | +4The five rebounds is nice and needed. What always strikes me about Neal is his supreme confidence. The Spurs struggled to shoot the ball for much of the game, but his fourth quarter pull-up was huge. No single moment is ever too big for Neal when it comes time to line up a shot.
Danny Green, SG 34 MIN | 3-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 9 PTS | +1Five points in 10 seconds to bring the Spurs back? It’s an excellent answer to what had otherwise been a struggling night on offense.
Matt Bonner, PF 9 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | +6Came in, hit a jumper.
Tiago Splitter, PF 22 MIN | 1-2 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS | -10The rebounding isn’t entirely Splitter’s fault. Every time he contests a shot no one really steps over to help on the boards. But still, results are results and three rebounds isn’t cutting it. Still, 3-4 from the free throw line does continue one positive trend. More consistency please.
Boris Diaw, C 26 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +4At either of the Spurs frontcourt positions, they need more rebounding from him.
Patrick Mills, PG 5 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -3Got a steal in five minutes. Otherwise impossible to really grade anything.
Nando de Colo, PG 5 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -10Nando de Colo is going to have to refine his shooting stroke and present himself as a threat to take a shot before his passing ability is fully realized.
Manu Ginobili, SG 28 MIN | 7-18 FG | 4-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 19 PTS | +3Ginobili went off in the second half, producing his own personal 7-0 run to get the Spurs back in the game. Even better, the long stepped twisting drives were the stuff of old.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Spurs need to hit three-pointers to compensate for all the extra possessions they give up on the boards. Tonight they did not. Fortunately they got huge nights from their Big Three (74 points) and the Pacers missed a lot of close looks.
  2. Tim Duncan is playing like one of the 10 best players on the planet. It’s amazing to see how far he’s come as a shooter. Especially since he was never really bad at it. The fun thing to see is how sharp his spins are, and how suffocating his defense can be.
  3. Manu Ginobili started 2-10 and there’s been enough of a sample size to worry about where that was leading to. But in the second half he went 5-8 with a couple and-one opportunities, getting in the paint on vintage Ginobili drives. It’s great to see Ginobili producing on nights his outside shot isn’t really falling.
  4. Tony Parker was absolutely dominant tonight. Despite his ankles absolutely getting obliterated by Lance Stephenson he was a blur. Not a single player on the Pacers could keep pace with him.
  5. Most nights I would be absolutely convinced that Tiago Splitter has the worst looking hook shot in the NBA. But then I would watch Roy Hibbert tonight and reconsider that assessment.
  • Jacques

    It got really ugly with Spurs missing the first 10 or so 3 pointers and playing weak defense, but Parker and Duncan fighting hard with Ginobili showing sparks at the end helped the Spurs win. Danny Green was atrocious until 4th quarter.

  • Graham

    These games are going to be ugly till StackJack and Kawhi get back I think. They give us the boards we are sorely missing right now. Still, this team definitely knows how to adapt to adversity and still win consistently.

  • Spurholic in Mumbai

    Gary Neal got 5 rebounds, no way Spurs would lose! Nando’s shooting is making Tiago look like a sharp shooter! Ginobili, probably getting inspired by Duncan, glimpses of the past. A lucky escape, after the small hole Spurs dug for themselves in the third. Mini Rodeo like trip, off to a good start.

  • Bankshot21

    A+ for Manu seems way too generous. I would give him a B. Thanks for bringing the El Conclusion back. Great to see you guys actually taking the feedback of the visitors.

  • NYC

    22 and 17??? WHAT!!!???!!! And this is, like, what the fifth game in a row now he’s gone for 20-10 or better? God damn, those are MVP-type numbers. Suck on that, Kevin Garnett. What is he averaging so far for the season? How long do you guys think he can keep this up? Man, he never ceases to amaze me. In Tim we trust.

  • NYC

    Clearly I didn’t see the game. Something I wanted to clarify: “Not a single player on the Pacers could keep pace with [Parker].” Where was George Hill? You would think George would be the guy to stay on top of Parker, right? What happened there?