El Conclusion: Poor shooting holds Spurs back from 9th straight win

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San Antonio Spurs 93 FinalRecap | Box Score 95 Brooklyn Nets
Tim Duncan, PF 36 MIN | 5-18 FG | 4-4 FT | 17 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 2 TO | 14 PTS | -8 He just missed so many shots. Otherwise, he was pretty good. He dominated the glass and had some big blocks at key moments in the 4th and overtime.

Boris Diaw, PF 22 MIN | 0-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 0 PTS | -12 How do you say stinker in French? He didn’t do anything offensively and let Mirza Teletovic do whatever.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 39 MIN | 4-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 13 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +1 Pretty much the same story as Duncan. Great defense, dominated the glass but just didn’t have the offense. But did you see some of that footwork in the post?

Tony Parker, PG 29 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 9 PTS | -21 Clearly he’s still a little banged up, Didn’t play down the stretch and overtime, but mostly he was fine.

Danny Green, SG 33 MIN | 7-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | 0 He was great. Defense was on point and his shooting really sparked that fourth quarter run.

Aron Baynes, PF 17 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +6 No 3’s made, no A for the Baynger.

Matt Bonner, PF 21 MIN | 3-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | -2 This jumps a whole letter grade if he makes half the shots he missed. They just didn’t fall.

Cory Joseph, PG 24 MIN | 3-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | +19 Played some great defense down the stretch and was really great attacking the basket.

Marco Belinelli, SG 15 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +3 It really doesn’t matter how he’s shooting, if the defense is subpar that’s one short leash he’s got.

Manu Ginobili, SG 29 MIN | 6-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | +4 Hit some big shots down stretch, great playmaking, etc. However, the shooting is still pretty inconsistent and the “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” plays still exist. With about 55 seconds left and about 20 seconds left on the shot clock, he chucked a contested 3-pointer that I’m pretty sure nearly drove Pop to drinking on the bench. Couple of minutes later, Manu helped force the turnover that led to the Spurs forcing overtime. Manu’s career in a nutshell.

Gregg Popovich
Found the right lineup at the end and drew up some ridiculous plays to get players open, Danny Green specifically.

Two Things We Saw

  1. I’m going to try and write more about this later, but Kevin Garnett didn’t play this game. That mad me a little sad because it might have been our last chance to see Duncan and Garnett square off. The Nets broadcast said it was KG’s choice to rest. I wonder if this had been advertised as Duncan vs. KG for the last time if a bigger deal could’ve been made of this and KG would’ve played.
  2. I saw several “I wish Patty Mills were here” tweets. Fair enough, but sometimes the teams aren’t going to make shots and that’s pretty much what this game was about. The Spurs missed a ton of open looks and the Nets made their open looks. It happens. On to Memphis.
  • Manu Ginobili Jr.

    No way does Pop deserve an A+. I was disappointed in him tonight. Tony wasn’t good tonight, but he wasn’t horrible like Pop claimed after the game (he said that was why he sat Tony sat at end of game). Spurs could have used him in the overtime when they struggled offensively.

    Also, screaming at Green after his dumb foul was silly. It was nearly the end of the overtime, just wait until after the game. I think the last play should have been ran for Green instead of Manu, but Pop chose to run it for Manu. Possibly because he was angry at Green? Maybe not, but you hardly want to scream at a guy if you might want them to take a shot at the end of an overtime.

    Also, I think it would have been smart to rest Manu for a minute or two at the start of the overtime. He already had 24 minutes and had played quite a few action packed minutes in a row to end he 4th. Didn’t have his legs in the OT. Manu is probably my favorite person in the world, but sometimes I think Pop is living in the past with him. Manu is still amazing and I want him running the pick and roll at the end of games, but I’m not sure he is a good enough 3 point shooter any more to warrant that last playcall.

    I give Pop a C-. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh, but he definitely doesn’t deserve an A+

  • mac

    Pretty close to my exact thoughts. Let Green’s foul go immediately and bring it up in the locker room, put in TP after the first 3 Spurs misses in the overtime period, get the ball to Green in OT. But I’d still reluctantly give Popovich an A- for helping engineer a comeback when the guys looked completely flat, and only losing by 2 points on such a terrible shooting night.
    Also: B- for both TD and Kawhi. Lots of rebounds to be had on both sides, but combining for 26 points on 34 shots just doesn’t earn good grades in a loss.

  • Caui sounds better than kawhi

    He screams at him because he doesn’t care about loosing this game, he cares about him not making the same mistake in april. The message will sink in better in the heat of the battle (and with a camera in his face) than after the game ends. It was a DUMB foul. Pop knows what he’s doing.
    I agree with the manu part, but you’ve got to remember that the Spurs are shorthanded as it is… and Marco didn’t bring it last night. If you want to play in the clutch, you’ve got to earn it.
    All the best!

  • Jim Bennett

    Classic Icy Hot..Danny gets us to overtime and then makes a boneheaded foul to lose us the game. Not sure he is deserving of the A+. Was glad to see Pop rip into him after that

  • fkj74

    I love Timmy and Leonard, but no A for them tonight. Way too many bad and missed shots. That foul from Danny was flat out boneheaded and Pop was right. I too think Danny should have got the last shot, but you cannot argue with Manu in the clutch. On to Memphis. Go Spurs!