El Conclusion: Spurs Avoid Embarrassment in Philadelphia
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Boris Diaw, PF 29 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | -3
Boris wasn’t particularly aggressive on a night where he could have probably done whatever he wanted. But he gets a decent grade for pulling off the slowest fast break in NBA history. |
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Aron Baynes, PF 29 MIN | 6-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 15 PTS | +3
The Alabaster Barbarian (tip of the hat/pass of the blame to Dan McCarney for that) had a solid game, attacking the boards and scoring with a variety of post moves. He also hit a really nice jumper over the side of the backboard. Baynes is clearly the Sloth of the Spurs’ Goonies. Still, he doesn’t get the plus tonight because he didn’t hit a three. I’m sorry. I have principles. |
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Kawhi Leonard, SF 33 MIN | 9-15 FG | 6-8 FT | 10 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 26 PTS | +11
With Parker and Duncan sitting against the worst “team” in the league, there was plenty of room for The Hand to make a statement. And make a statement he did with one of his best games of the season, posting an efficient double-double and tossing in some assists and steals to boot. |
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Cory Joseph, PG 34 MIN | 4-10 FG | 6-8 FT | 8 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 14 PTS | -6
Contract Cory has been a joy to watch all season, and tonight was no different. He gave an otherwise uneventful night some flair, and while the shooting wasn’t very efficient, he did fill out the box score with some assists and a crazy number of rebounds for a player of his height. |
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Danny Green, SG 26 MIN | 1-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +14
There was room for Green to leave his mark, but he just couldn’t get much going. #ICYhot was cold all game, and didn’t do much in what felt like a short appearance tonight. |
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Jeff Ayres, PF 12 MIN | 1-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | +5
Tim Duncan made the news today by donating a ton of money to cancer research. That’s awesome, but we still haven’t found a cure for whatever’s wrong with Jeff Ayres’ hands. |
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Matt Bonner, PF 14 MIN | 5-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +6
Pretty big day for The Red Mamba. Broke some news about a Big Red sponsorship (the official soda of San Antonio) and shot 100% from the floor. He hit a pristine floater tonight, too, so everything seems to be coming up ginger. |
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Kyle Anderson, SF 5 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +6
Raise your hand if you thought the only stat Anderson would record would be a block. Anybody? Anybody? Yeah, I didn’t think so. |
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Austin Daye, SF 14 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 3 PTS | -3
Austin Daye is sticking around for two reasons: to hit threes and try on defense. He hit *A* three tonight and tried on defense. He also got some boards. That earns a passing grade, I suppose. |
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Marco Belinelli, SG 31 MIN | 3-13 FG | 4-5 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | -4
If you were to only look at the box score, you’d think Belinelli had a terrible game. And honestly, you’d probably be right. (He went 3/13!) But the box score doesn’t have a column for “murders,” and Belinelli did just that when he destroyed Henry Sims with a brutal dunk. Considering that will likely be the Spurs dunk of the year, I’m bumping up his score a full letter grade. |
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Manu Ginobili, SG 13 MIN | 4-8 FG | 4-5 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | +1
Manu barely played tonight, and when he did, the Spurs were in complete control of the game. He didn’t have a perfect game, but he was kind of doing whatever he wanted against a Sixers squad that features guys young enough to be one of his kids. Pop playing him only thirteen minutes was just a nod to fairness and subtle fist bump to Coach Brown. |
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Tim Duncan, PF DNP REST MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
Duncan didn’t play tonight because he was tired of hearing about this stupid Kentucky vs. Sixers argument. |
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Tony Parker, PG DNP BRUISED RIBS MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
“I want my Tony back, Tony back, Tony back, Tony back, Tony back, Tony back / (I’m sorry.) |
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Gregg Popovich The Spurs didn’t lose. Most of the old guys rested. And the game provided enough fodder for a good lashing at practice. Probably not worth a glass of the expensive stuff, but good for a cold bottle on the couch. |
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Four Things We Saw
- Sometimes it’s tempting to watch the Spurs play a terrible team and think about how the guys at the end of San Antonio’s bench could lead somewhere else. But the truth is, guys like Cory Joseph and Aron Baynes would be just as lost in Philadelphia as Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Davies often appear to be. San Antonio offers a system with clearly defined roles and expectations and a set hierarchy. By design, this is not the case in Philadelphia, and development on the Sixers does not occur on the same trajectory. The young guys on the Spurs bench are producing because the sustained excellence of the franchise and its stars have made the luxury of extended player development a possibility. This is not really to diminish the work of the players on either team, but it’s important to point out the otherwise obvious apples/oranges nature of the two squads.
- KJ McDaniels is a freakin’ force, man. It’s crazy to think about how many teams passed on the guy (Spurs included). If San Antonio gets a big name free agent and brings Kawhi back for the max, they might be priced out of Danny Green. McDaniels, who would be a RFA, might be a good replacement option. (But he’s probably not a realistic one. He’s getting paid, too.)
- At one point tonight, I missed a good chunk of the fourth quarter because my infant daughter had a poop explosion. So really there was no getting away from poop tonight either way.
- For a brief moment, it seemed like the Sixers’ first win was going to come agains the defending NBA champions. Admit it. Part of you wanted to see that, purely for the comedy.
