El Conclusion: Spurs hold on despite injuries
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Tim Duncan, PF 35 MIN | 5-12 FG | 7-12 FT | 13 REB | 4 AST | 3 STL | 6 BLK | 0 TO | 17 PTS | +5
He really, really like playing the Atlanta Hawks. He was all over the court tonight, which is normally something you don’t say about a 38-year-old guy and if you do, it’s probably a bad thing. |
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Tiago Splitter, PF 10 MIN | 2-2 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +4
I thought he looked fine until he got hurt again. Ended up in the locker room by the fourth quarter. We’ll have to wait to see whether he’s available for Thursday night’s game at Houston. |
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Kawhi Leonard, SF 30 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -2
Clearly still finding his rhythm, but overall I thought he was solid. You’d like to see him getting more opportunities on offense, but it’s only his second game back. We may even see an increased workload Thursday night with a shortened big rotation. |
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Tony Parker, PG 37 MIN | 7-12 FG | 3-5 FT | 3 REB | 7 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 7 TO | 17 PTS | +2
The seven turnovers really hurt and helped Atlanta get back in the game. But overall he was solid. |
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Danny Green, SG 33 MIN | 3-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | -1
I think we sometimes overlook how important his rebounding from the guard spot is. He plays bigger than 6’5″ in that regard. I did think he forced up a couple of contested shots instead of keeping the ball moving, but that’s not a typical thing for him. |
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Jeff Ayres, PF 13 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -3
Did Jeff Ayres things, which is mostly brought a ton of energy. We may be seeing a lot of him versus Houston. |
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Boris Diaw, PF 34 MIN | 4-10 FG | 3-5 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +7
The jumper wasn’t really there but he did a really nice job in every other facet of the game. It was interesting seeing him handle a team that essentially employs the same type of bigs as the Spurs. |
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Austin Daye, SF 3 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -9
He gets an incomplete for this game, but if he’s getting some of Belinelli’s minutes he’s going to have to make open shots. |
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Cory Joseph, PG 14 MIN | 3-6 FG | 3-3 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -2
He looked good, especially playing with Parker in short spurts. Got to the line, hit an open 3. He looks to be getting more comfortable as each game goes on. |
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Manu Ginobili, SG 26 MIN | 2-7 FG | 7-7 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +8
Clearly he’s still finding his legs as it relates to his jumper, but Manu is compensating for that in other ways, more notably getting to the free throw line. |
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Marco Belinelli, SG 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | +1
Left pretty early with a groin strain. It’s said to be mild. Couldn’t have come at a worse time, since he usually gets a lot of minutes on back to backs. |
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Gregg Popovich I’m just glad he didn’t put minute restrictions on anyone tonight, though it could hurt them Thursday. |
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One Thing We Saw
- It’s really just wait and see mode about Belinelli and Splitter’s injuries. Neither sound serious, but I’d still be we won’t see them against the Rockets.
