El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 101, Boston Celtics 89

March 20, 10:37 pm — by

Boston Celtics 89 Final
Recap | Box Score		 101 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, PF 20 MIN | 5-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +15 +/-

Tim Duncan was too good for this team; the Spurs didn’t need much of him. That’s not an insult to Celtics fans. It’s Tim Duncan.
Kawhi Leonard, SF 31 MIN | 8-14 FG | 4-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 22 PTS | +23 +/-

A dominant performance, along with the rest of the starters. The best plus/minus on the team.
Tiago Splitter, C 25 MIN | 8-10 FG | 2-3 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 18 PTS | +20 +/-

Maybe the best Tiago game we’ve seen yet? Man, he was good tonight. Really, really good.
Tony Parker, PG 27 MIN | 5-8 FG | 5-6 FT | 0 REB | 7 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 6 TO | 15 PTS | +19 +/-

Got a bit of a break, overall. What the hell do I do with grades in this one? “Oh, man, he was soooooo good.”
Danny Green, SG 34 MIN | 2-10 FG | 6-6 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +16 +/-

Not a single 3-pointer?! Terrible shooting? Booooooo this man!
Marco Belinelli, SF 24 MIN | 2-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | -10 +/-

Bleh. Pretty bad.
Aron Baynes, C 17 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -9 +/-

Man, the Spurs were not good when he was in the game. Oh well, right?
Matt Bonner, C 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | -15 +/-

Sizing up Marcus Smart after that bullshit nut-shot was so great! Matty might be a fun-loving character, but dude, those biceps/triceps are nothing to be trifled with. I’m not playing.
Boris Diaw, C 26 MIN | 3-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 9 PTS | +16 +/-

Solid night. Keep on coming around, Boris. I was told by a dependable source you were in Fredericksburg eating a hamburger and wings this week — Borissssssssss!
Patty Mills, PG 20 MIN | 2-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | -5 +/-

The shot-making is not happening, but the assisting kind of is. I love that. I feel it’s going to come sooner or later though…the shot-making. Stick with him.

One Thing We Saw

  1. A weird game, but a disconcerting trend: the second group is a problem right now. This is no joke: the bench is an issue that needs fixing, and I think we don’t realize how important Ginobili is to this group.
  • project spurs

    Bench was good in the first, pretty crappy in the 2nd when all the guards were going iso. Pretty unfair grade to Baynes since he wasn’t the one forcing Green floaters or terrible defense on Turner. Bonner was awful; doesn’t deserve an A+ for doing something any man would do. Green getting a B+ is hilariously bad. Then again, can’t expect much from this site. At least the top 3 are right.

  • Ginobili137

    Yes, second unit needs to be better. Last year, they were possibly our biggest weapon. This year they have been a great bench, but not close to as good as last year. Obviously they are worse without Manu, but even with Manu, a great Manu is needed for this team to compete for the championship. So far this year, he has been either great or bad, no in between, but I’ll take that over consistently average. It gives me hope that he can be consistently great in the postseason. Remember, he was arguably our best player in the DAL and OKC series last year and arguably our 2nd best player in the finals. How quickly people forget.

  • Paul Garcia PS

    This is Paul Garcia of ProjectSpurs.com. The comment above is not affiliated with our site in any way. We apologize that someone is using our site’s name and making comments that do not represent any Project Spurs writer.

  • DorieStreet

    That is the Spurs greatest shortcoming-expecting Manu to be the best player leading the second unit at his age— while no one else stepped up in their roles for 2014-15.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    Parker with 6 turnovers but still an A?

  • DorieStreet

    The grading system for “El Consclusion” needs to be addressed revamped from this point forward -OR next season definitely.( I have a couple of suggestions I will reveal after the postseason.)
    Notice that the 48MOH staff has reacted to the criticism —-no grade for the coach for the Celtics game.

  • Spurs Fan in Australia

    Surely you are joking right?
    I mean the whole grading system is just some fun that gives a quick snap shot of how the team performed in that game. I don’t think it should be taken so seriously that we need to be getting people who provide this content in their spare time to “revamp” how they do it.

    With the bench, I guess one positive is that they are getting open looks. Hopefully shots will start falling soon.

  • DorieStreet

    No—I’m not joking.
    48MOH did not present it as a whimsical anecdote to Spurs’ post-games analysis.

  • Spurs Fan in Australia

    You make a good point. I just see that the person grading is just giving their opinion, and we won’t always agree with it.

    I didn’t agree with the Baynes grades for this game, but doesn’t mean the grade given was wrong or how he was graded needed to be changed, just a difference of opinion.

  • Francesco Grigori Di Bene

    the rim spit out 5 marco’s shots…

  • Riotsmoke

    Dorie you DO realize they don’t get paid to do any of this right? I could totally understand if there was any sort of financial incentive for these guys, but there isn’t any… so why don’t we look at it from that perspective? Also, regarding the grading system as a whole, it’s all tongue-in-cheek and shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s Matt’s opinion on the game. Nothing more, nothing less. And as they’ve posted before, if you feel like you could do better then apply to join their staff. My point is.. Take Matt’s opinion for what it is, his own opinion, and stop complaining about it.

  • merkin

    Maybe Boris needs to eat what he wants, instead of worrying about his weight so he can collect those bonuses. Eat up Boris and let the court take care of the weight-it’ll be freeing.

  • Graham

    He was a +19 so he was doing something right. None of the turnovers seemed to be ill timed. I agree that people are taking the grades way to seriously.

  • Matthew R Tynan

    Thanks, Paul. Your staff is full of good folks and we didn’t think for a second this person represented PS.

  • Matthew R Tynan

    Just think, for one second, about what you’re saying. Our silly, arbitrary, quick way of giving a recap as soon as possible after a game needs to be addressed? My goodness, I’d hate to see how seriously you take other trivial things in your life if this is how you treat this. CAN. NOT. WAIT. for your big postseason suggestion-reveal.

  • Travis Hale

    Who does the grades here, Charlie Brown’s teacher or something?

  • TD BestEVER

    I agree we need to change the dynamic of the 2nd unit a bit with Subbing patterns to always keep some scoring on the floor with Manu.

  • TD BestEVER

    To piggy back on something Dorie said and to clear it up a bit.

    I Also believe we need some sort or scoring system for this site!!!! Not just they seem inconsistent at times but if for nothing else this site SHOULD try to educate SPURS fans and not just give them a place to gather after a game and talk. An A+ for TD is way different for an A+ for Baynes, Diaw, or Splitter!!!! Same can be said for Manu and Danny and Kawhi. For instance Parker Doesn’t need to affect the Defensive end of the floor to get an A or A+ but TIm, Danny, and Kawhi all do need to because this team counts on them to!!!But break it down into rebounds or blocks or shots contested etc for Defense. And Points, Assists, Turnovers, Shooting %, and even Hockey Assists if you want. Or Tiago diving to the basket to create a open shot, or TD sealing his man so a guard has a wide open layup.

    Why not wait a couple hours longer to Post and educate us while you provide your opinions!!!

  • spurs10

    What is holding back anyone from creating their own website if they take issue with anything here. It’s a quick re-cap of the game with grades and some light insights into the performance. When these critics do start their own grading system for the Spurs and “this site” maybe they can let us all know what their qualifications are for all this judgmental nonsense.

    I greatly appreciate 48moh for providing entertainment and insight when the game is over and we are all wanting to read and comment about our favorite team. I know I don’t have the skills, energy, or time to start my own Spurs website so it’s good to know I can come here. Keep it coming and keep it fun! Thanks Matthew!

  • Matthew R Tynan

    I want to do this. I feel like most everything I write — this EC was hastily done because it was late on a Friday night and sometimes life gets in the way — is geared toward educating the reader. The majority of my arguments/points/analyses are supported by hard data. Don’t take this EC as the shining example of it, as I admit it’s pretty awful; furthermore, don’t take EC as anything super serious. We’re grading a basketball game here. My style is different from Caleb’s and Trevor’s and Andrew’s and Graydon’s and anyone else who’s done these over the years. It’s all arbitrary.

  • birdie

    Earlier in the season, when you weren’t putting them up at all or did them late - that bugged me. Having precise criterion for each point made is not as important to me as timeliness.

    So you’re not going to make everyone happy all the time. Don’t sweat it.

  • Spurs Fan in Australia

    As someone who doesn’t get to watch many games (don’t have league pass so only get the Spurs game that are shown on ESPN in Australia) I LOVE El Conslusion and also “What’s the Story”.

    I like to read both of them after the Spurs game as it gives me a feel for the game without being able to watch it. In the games I get to watch, I don’t always agree with the grades, but then I think to myself, if I was scoring Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Popovich would never get below an A+, so I can’t complain.

    This is probably asking abit much, but any chance in the off-season we could get historic El Conclusions? I don’t even know if this is possible, but maybe get some historic Spurs games and grade the players from this games? I’d love to see grades from say 1999 Game 5 finals win, the Memorial Day miracle game, or the 1994 Spurs v Rockets series as examples.

  • ferscia

    Take it easy, Doris. El conclusion is mostly having some fun, not to be taken serious all the time

  • TD BestEVER

    as long as you have internet you have live NBA…..1strowsports.com streams live games……in all major sports

  • Spurs Fan in Australia

    Thanks, will check it out = )

  • TitletownX5

    All this time I thought you guys were serious about the grading system. Thank you for putting up EC and with me. Too really make it fun why not put up EC but let the readers vote (grade) for each player for 24hrs then close it and thats your score on each player. It takes a lot of stress off you guys at 48MOH. Just a thought.

  • thedrwolff5

    Portland is going into their usual late season freefall. Nobody goes years in a row without tasting the pain of the NBA injury bug. Aldridge tried to play through his hand and it looks like he paid for it tonight against memphis. Aldridge, Batum out for the second half in Memphis. Mathews gone for the season. They’ll be lucky to go .500 here on out. Some perspective. If San Antonio has played like such dog poo while Houston and Portland are playing well…after 66 games how are we only 2 wins out of being the 4 seed and the hottest team in the west over the last 10 games? Spurs this season vs excellent spurs over the past 4 seasons…not so good. In reality we are turning in a 50-52 win season with a rotation of M A S H unit outpatients. Arguably the 5th-7th best team in the league. Not arguably the best team but now we know how fan bases of middle playoff seeds have felt for years. Houston/Portland last season for instance. If OKC could stay healthy then you’d bet the house on Lebron vs Durant/Westbrook…but the injury bug has snake bit them for 3 seasons straight. You realize that all but the Detroit title were won by Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, Wade, Lebron. That Kobe/Duncan went to the finals 13 out of 16 years with Dirk Snaking in twice? Thats 15 out of 16. Wade and Lebron went a combined 6 times in 9 years with Garnet Pierce Allen going twice and somehow Orlando sneaking in for the other on Van Gundy’s coaching use of the Three ahead of it’s time (do you even KNOW anyone from that team that has been a STAR since that season for Orlando?) Dwight Howard? I said a star not a media fabrication of a star. Which incidentally makes me almost laugh out loud when the media says how important Howard is. He is the ONE player in the league I’m certain is ONLY out for the fame and money. Mentally it took Kobe 40 games to crush him. About 39 more then I thought. Kobe saw in a very short time that Dwight is not out for titles. Remember Dwight diving on the floor for balls, hitting the crunchtime bucket or even sprinting down court for the alley oop? You can’t because he doesn’t. No indictment on who he is as a person mind you as I’m sure he’s a great guy. Just not a title achiever in manball. Anyway this year Lebron is the ONLY transcendent star on a good team in the east so he’s IN. There isn’t even a need for the Eastern Playoffs besides the fact it gains revenue and provides jobs. On the Western Half if Durant and Westbrook are healthy they go. They’ve earned the badge of being there before and had it kicked in their face a few times. Are you telling me that in a 7 game series the sheer force of will between Westbrook/Curry and Durant/Draymond Green is even close? They aren’t 23 year old boys anymore. They are PRIME and seasoned vets of the conference final/finals. Golden state hasn’t been oh so close and lost yet and UNLESS you have MULTIPLE transcendent stars you just don’t come out of nowhere and win the title ala Boston, ala ’99 spurs. This game has an undisputed consistent history. So we think golden state is cute this year….Better then a Healthy OKC would have been over 82 games??? really? Did you SEE the butt kicking they got in OKC when Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka were all healthy and now Cantor/Adams is a wash on Ibaka/Perkins. That series (GS vs OKC) is going to be the best of the playoffs. Stay injured KD till game 76 or so….Dallas get just enough of yer shi& together to hang on to the 7. Let’s BUCKLE UP.

  • DorieStreet

    Just because they don’t get paid means they shouldn’t approach the task without being realistic about what they are doing.
    48MOH set up this grading system to be a review on how each player with significant playing time performed in each game.
    They don’t grade “tongue-in-cheek”. When Diaw sucks-he gets graded accordingly. When Bonner comes in a does a cameo or garbage time, the staff throws him bouquets MOST of the time. Ayres gets grades when we all know his time on the court has no bearing on the win/loss result.

  • DorieStreet

    Thank you TDBE.

  • DorieStreet

    @ TitletownX5…..48MOH goes back and forth about “being serious” -each game -and depending on the player they’re grading.

  • TD BestEVER

    make that 1strowsports.eu