El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 82, Toronto Raptors 87

Tim Duncan, like most of the starters, was pretty quiet. He got hacked a few times in the first half without earning a call, and you got the feeling that with some aggression in the second half, he’d either earn some of those calls or simply hit shots. He didn’t. Duncan spent much of the night trying to work past Jonas Valanciunas, who was briefly inhabited by the spirit of Bill Russell, but Duncan did manage a double-double. So… silver lining? No, probably not.

Kawhi Leonard couldn’t hit a shot tonight. He didn’t force much, but nothing was going in. At one point, he shot a three that fell probably three-quarters of the way into the basket before miraculously spinning out. Just that kind of night. He did play well defensively, so Pop elected to close with him. Danny Green (below) was not so lucky.

Remember that scene in Three Amigos where Steve Martin is inching step-by-painful-step to the lever that will free him from that dungeon? You know, the “gonna make it, gonna make it, NOT gonna make it” scene? That’s basically what it’s like when you watch the Spurs kick the ball around in characteristic poetic brilliance, only for the possession to end in an Aron Baynes jumpshot. Baynes started tonight, but he didn’t have much of an impact.

Tony Parker continues to struggle, and his story is also the story of the Spurs’ season. The team might not need Tony Parker to be a top-5 point guard to win, but they do need him to hit shots for an entire game. He had a stretch where he helped keep them going in the second half, but he couldn’t maintain that over four quarters. Parker’s three-pointer tied the game late, but he also missed a long-two near the end of the game that would have likely iced it for the Spurs.

Danny Green started the Rodeo Road Trip with a bad shooting night. He played decent defense, but Pop didn’t think his impact was important enough to use in crunch time (which is somewhat odd in that he was the only starter to finish with a positive +/-). The seven boards were nice, as was the usual block, but Green’s missing shot was a big loss on a night where the Spurs barely broke 80 points.

It’s good to have Marco Belinelli back. He shot the ball well tonight, and although he missed a big three near the end, his second-chance shots were what put the Spurs in a position to win in the first place. He also played just about the hardest defense of his life, which is, you know, not great, but the effort was worth applauding.

With how poor the Spurs’ offense looked throughout the game, it’s somewhat surprising Bonner didn’t see a little burn.

Boris Diaw had a better game than the box score would indicate, and while you always want more aggression from him, he played hard enough in his 24 minutes to help the offense wake up, if only for a little while. Not the best shooting night, but better than most of the team. Perhaps the diet is starting to pay off…

He didn’t start. Again. This is officially a thing now. Despite coming off the bench, Splitter contributed a lot in under 20 minutes of playing time. He scored and rebounded well and held his own defensively against Toronto’s athletic bigs. It was a bit strange that he didn’t get more burn, but perhaps Pop is easing him into a heavier load.

Either somebody forgot to plug in the Aussie Bake Oven™, or Pop waited too long to set it up.

Cory Joseph played really well in his short stint, bringing the kind of hustler the Spurs have come to expect. I really have no idea why he played so few minutes, but in any case, at this stage of the season, the Spurs are relying on his energy more than they’d like.

Whatever terrible shooting bug got the Spurs starters got Manu, too. He had a bad game all around and forced some terrible shots and bad passes. The Spurs needed spectacular Manu to eke out a win, but he went the way his team did.

Popovich was not concerned about his 1000 win milestone enough to stick with predictable lineup changes. There were some odd substitutions throughout, and after the game, he simply pointed to the team “not hitting shots.” It’s a pity we didn’t get to see what he drew up for a potentially game-tying play in the final seconds. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to draw something up again any time soon.