El Conclusion: Spurs pull away from Lakers despite shaky D

by

 

San Antonio Spurs 125 Final

Recap | Box Score

 109 Los Angeles Lakers
Tim Duncan, PF 32 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 16 REB | 6 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 12 PTS | +28Very strong defensive game for Timmy. Didn’t need to score as much because Pau is better than almost every other Lakers defender, which allowed Duncan to find open guys left and right.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 34 MIN | 8-12 FG | 5-6 FT | 10 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 22 PTS | +17The 22 points snuck up on me. Everything else did not. Not reflected on the box score, he put the clamps on Xavier Henry after he dropped in 17 first half points. It seems silly to say something like that, but Henry really killed the Spurs in the first half.

Tiago Splitter, C 22 MIN | 4-6 FG | 2-3 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +12We should just start calling 10 points, 8 boards and 2 assists just another Tiago game. In the second half, Pop brought him off the bench, in part to give Duncan a little break guarding Pau, who is still awesome by the way.

Tony Parker, PG 33 MIN | 11-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 25 PTS | +23Started slow and then just ate any defender alive and finished in the lane with his typical trickiness.

Danny Green, SG 24 MIN | 6-8 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | +15The defense wasn’t the great and there were a couple of stupid passes, but when Green shoots over 50 percent and scores in double figures it’s a good day overall.

Aron Baynes, PF 6 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -7Continued getting some short minutes in the first half, but that didn’t last long.

Boris Diaw, PF 24 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 8 PTS | -6The six assists just shows how crucial he is to helping facilitate the Spurs offense.

Patty Mills, PG 15 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -7Wasn’t great, but he did hit a couple of big shots in the fourth when it looked like the Lakers could make a run.

Manu Ginobili, SG 22 MIN | 5-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | 0#Manu6MOY

Marco Belinelli, SG 26 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +3Started hitting shots in the second half, but man was he not focused on defense. It’s not that he’s a bad defender. I mean, he’s not great, but he was awful tonight and Pop let him hear about it a couple of times.

Gregg Popovich
Can’t imagine he was thrilled with the defensive effort, but hey, 11 in a row.

Two Things We Saw

  1. The ball movement is out of control right now. I don’t know who is slowing that down. Maybe OKC because they tend to do that well and there’s always Miami’s Flying Death Machine, but really, the offense looks incredible at the moment.
  2. Next up for the Spurs are the Sacramento Kings, who tend to play well at home, or at least play teams close at home. Then there’s a road back to back at Golden State. So 13 in a row is possible, but it’s going to be tough.
  • camnpat

    It should be noted that both Green and Splitter are moving incredibly well with the ball in their hands this year. Green is attacking the paint when he has an open lane, and Splitter is making some great passes when he collapses the defense.

    Think what you want about those two, but they are much improved.

  • camnpat

    BTW- Is it too far fetched to say Manu is the best passer in the team (in an already very good passing team that includes two excellent passers in Duncan and Parker)?

  • df

    Manu HAS ALWAYS been the best passer of the bunch…..he just doesn’t have the greatest assist/TO ratio. Diaw is the best of the rest……Belly-Nelly/Tim/Tony/Tiago aren’t to shabby either.

  • SASpurstars254

    Give the Lakers some credit. They played hard in 3 quarters. They ran out of gas in the 4th. I was expecting for our bench to play more, but we have to keep Tim, Kahwi, Tony, Tiago and Danny in the game. Patty, my favorite PG, had off night but he really kept the game rolling. We get excited when he shoots long distance. Marco had off night, too. It happens. They should be playing better on next games. They play great defense. They are not scared. Happy to see Tiago playing better now. You have to be physical playing nowadays. Don’t have to force all shots. Pass the ball. Great team effort. I wanna see more Austin Daye on next games.

  • SASpurstars254

    Our SPuRs has the best passing team/players. They are fun to watch..

  • jx1971

    The Lakers kept it close, but another W for the Spurs…hopefully, Pop will reduce minutes for Duncan and Parker next game…

  • jx1971

    I hope the bench plays more against the Kings. Also, I wish we coulda used the almost 4 million a year going to Bonner to find a decent backup power forward/center…don’t think Timmy needs to be playing 32-35 minutes at this stage in the regular season.

  • camroc

    Nice pregame tribute to the Spurs by Kurt Rambis. Worth watching. http://www.nba.com/lakers/video/games/lakers/2014/03/19/0021301017-sas-lal-1h.nba/

  • dg

    I don’t even think it’s too far fetched to say Manu is one of the best passers in the LEAGUE

  • Anton Gregory

    Either Manu or Boris.

  • Anton Gregory

    It’s the Kings, so most probably they will rest or DNP entirely

  • camnpat

    He is a great passer. Don’t get me wrong- I was trying to convey that point that this team has so many terrific passers. I have to give the upper hand to Manu cos he is usually charged with running the offense while he is on the floor.

    But you are totally right about his passing ability.