El Conclusion: Spurs Beat A Division Leader!

Toronto Raptors

Final

112

San Antonio Spurs

	Tim Duncan, PF Shot Chart 28 MIN \| 4-15 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 12 REB \| 4 AST \| 0 STL \| 4 BLK \| 0 TO \| 9 PTS \| +1 Just a dreadful shooting night, but everything else was gravy. Also, you may or may not have seen a pretty wicked crossover in the open court floating around the internets.
	Kawhi Leonard, SF Shot Chart 31 MIN \| 5-12 FG \| 1-1 FT \| 10 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 13 PTS \| +12 It feels like we’re starting to see the Kawhi Leonard we thought we were going to get when the season started, mostly because his shot is starting to fall which is allowing his offense to open up more. Tonight was also a reminder of how good a rebounder he is.
	Tiago Splitter, C Shot Chart 20 MIN \| 3-5 FG \| 2-4 FT \| 7 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 8 PTS \| +5 We’re going to keep beating the Tiago drum until fans appreciate what he does. In this case, he was all over the place when he was in. Matchups are almost always going to dictate how much Tiago plays.
	Tony Parker, PG Shot Chart 34 MIN \| 10-19 FG \| 5-7 FT \| 2 REB \| 8 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 4 TO \| 26 PTS \| +7 Where on earth did those 26 points come from? While we were all focused on the Belinelli starting/Green to the bench thing, or Duncan crossing a dude up, Parker just kept efficiently running the offense.
	Marco Belinelli, SG Shot Chart 19 MIN \| 2-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 4 PTS \| +2 It was not a spicy outing for Belinelli. He was bound to have a poor shooting game, but was it just a coincidence it happened to be his first start with the rest of the usual starters? Probably so, but we still like him off the bench with Manu. They’re just too good together.
	Aron Baynes, PF Shot Chart 1 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +1 Jonas Valanciunas’ bane (pun definitely intended) barely played tonight, but we know Jonas felt him over his shoulder.
	Jeff Ayres, PF Shot Chart 10 MIN \| 1-2 FG \| 2-2 FT \| 5 REB \| 4 AST \| 1 STL \| 1 BLK \| 0 TO \| 4 PTS \| +7 Four assists! Ayres is a sneaky good passer! His offense is limited, but he’s a great fit next to Matt Bonner or Boris Diaw because of his passing ability.
	Matt Bonner, PF Shot Chart 7 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +4 Whatever.
	Boris Diaw, PF Shot Chart 28 MIN \| 4-9 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 4 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 9 PTS \| 0 Are we seeing a Diaw regression? Maybe, but he’s staying aggressive and at this point that’s what matters. Contract year Boris is a good Boris.
	Nando de Colo, PG Shot Chart 1 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +1 He gets the honorary B here for taking his recent D-League assignments in stride. Also, he’s a ridiculously good D-League player. 31 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in his last outing.
	Patty Mills, PG Shot Chart 14 MIN \| 3-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 2 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 1 TO \| 7 PTS \| +6 We need more inbound steals. Also, if he’s playing 14 minutes the #PattyMillsShotCount needs to be way higher.
	Danny Green, SG Shot Chart 24 MIN \| 5-8 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 0 TO \| 14 PTS \| +10 Great, great bounce back game for Green. Gets sent to the bench and all of a sudden starts nailing 3-pointers. Maybe this is a motivator for him. It’ll be curious to see what Pop does with the starting line up going forward.
	Manu Ginobili, SG Shot Chart 25 MIN \| 4-7 FG \| 9-9 FT \| 5 REB \| 2 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 18 PTS \| +9 #ManuFor6MOY
	Gregg Popovich The Belinelli-Green thing is something we’ll have to let play out. It may be a one time thing, it may be Pop just messing line ups in December, because well, you can do those things in December.

spurs10

Good grades! Thanks!
td4life

I asked for Green to come of the bench in the comments, and Pop listened! Lol. Actually, i’ve been advocating for Green to back up Kawhi since the summer, but I’d still like to see if Marco can deliver playing alongside TP against starting two guards (Marco alongside TP could help us in the playoffs). It’s a long season, Pop should continue to experiment with lineups and give guys time to develop chemistry (Marco and Manu have theirs dialed in).

Manu’s 6MoY case is hurt by Reggie Jackson in OKC, but Obi-Wan Ginobili is in classic form and gets my meaningless vote.

Let NDC kill it in Austin until somebody offers us an early second rounder for him, please.
camroc

Marco + Manu = way more than the sum of the parts. He should NOT start…

	Tim Duncan, PF Shot Chart 28 MIN \| 4-15 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 12 REB \| 4 AST \| 0 STL \| 4 BLK \| 0 TO \| 9 PTS \| +1 Just a dreadful shooting night, but everything else was gravy. Also, you may or may not have seen a pretty wicked crossover in the open court floating around the internets.
	Kawhi Leonard, SF Shot Chart 31 MIN \| 5-12 FG \| 1-1 FT \| 10 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 13 PTS \| +12 It feels like we’re starting to see the Kawhi Leonard we thought we were going to get when the season started, mostly because his shot is starting to fall which is allowing his offense to open up more. Tonight was also a reminder of how good a rebounder he is.
	Tiago Splitter, C Shot Chart 20 MIN \| 3-5 FG \| 2-4 FT \| 7 REB \| 2 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 8 PTS \| +5 We’re going to keep beating the Tiago drum until fans appreciate what he does. In this case, he was all over the place when he was in. Matchups are almost always going to dictate how much Tiago plays.
	Tony Parker, PG Shot Chart 34 MIN \| 10-19 FG \| 5-7 FT \| 2 REB \| 8 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 4 TO \| 26 PTS \| +7 Where on earth did those 26 points come from? While we were all focused on the Belinelli starting/Green to the bench thing, or Duncan crossing a dude up, Parker just kept efficiently running the offense.
	Marco Belinelli, SG Shot Chart 19 MIN \| 2-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 1 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 4 PTS \| +2 It was not a spicy outing for Belinelli. He was bound to have a poor shooting game, but was it just a coincidence it happened to be his first start with the rest of the usual starters? Probably so, but we still like him off the bench with Manu. They’re just too good together.
	Aron Baynes, PF Shot Chart 1 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +1 Jonas Valanciunas’ bane (pun definitely intended) barely played tonight, but we know Jonas felt him over his shoulder.
	Jeff Ayres, PF Shot Chart 10 MIN \| 1-2 FG \| 2-2 FT \| 5 REB \| 4 AST \| 1 STL \| 1 BLK \| 0 TO \| 4 PTS \| +7 Four assists! Ayres is a sneaky good passer! His offense is limited, but he’s a great fit next to Matt Bonner or Boris Diaw because of his passing ability.
	Matt Bonner, PF Shot Chart 7 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +4 Whatever.
	Boris Diaw, PF Shot Chart 28 MIN \| 4-9 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 4 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 9 PTS \| 0 Are we seeing a Diaw regression? Maybe, but he’s staying aggressive and at this point that’s what matters. Contract year Boris is a good Boris.
	Nando de Colo, PG Shot Chart 1 MIN \| 0-0 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 0 AST \| 0 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 0 PTS \| +1 He gets the honorary B here for taking his recent D-League assignments in stride. Also, he’s a ridiculously good D-League player. 31 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in his last outing.
	Patty Mills, PG Shot Chart 14 MIN \| 3-7 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 0 REB \| 2 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 1 TO \| 7 PTS \| +6 We need more inbound steals. Also, if he’s playing 14 minutes the #PattyMillsShotCount needs to be way higher.
	Danny Green, SG Shot Chart 24 MIN \| 5-8 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 2 REB \| 1 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 0 TO \| 14 PTS \| +10 Great, great bounce back game for Green. Gets sent to the bench and all of a sudden starts nailing 3-pointers. Maybe this is a motivator for him. It’ll be curious to see what Pop does with the starting line up going forward.
	Manu Ginobili, SG Shot Chart 25 MIN \| 4-7 FG \| 9-9 FT \| 5 REB \| 2 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 18 PTS \| +9 #ManuFor6MOY
	Gregg Popovich The Belinelli-Green thing is something we’ll have to let play out. It may be a one time thing, it may be Pop just messing line ups in December, because well, you can do those things in December.

El Conclusion: Spurs Beat A Division Leader!

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