Spurs fall to Suns 94-89 as offense stumbles late
The San Antonio Spurs rolled into Phoenix Friday night and for a time looked like they’d pick up a nice early season road win. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both had it going early and Kawhi Leonard, returning from what turned into a nasty eye infection, looked rusty but still found ways to contribute. The Spurs got cold and Isaiah Thomas got hot in the fourth quarter, leading to a 94-85 come back victory for the Suns. Here are some quick observations from what pretty much was an ugly game to watch.
-Leonard looked fine in his first game in about a month. He only shot six times (missed all of them), but what stood out was he never settled for a jumper. One of the few criticisms of Kawhi’s game last year was his ball handling in the half court. He had very little trouble getting into the paint. He’s not Manu Ginobili or anything, but he also wasn’t just trying straight line drives.
-I thought, for the most part, the half court defense was really good. There weren’t a ton of uncontested shots for Phoenix except when they got out in transition. The Suns only had 15 fast break points, though anytime the Suns made a run, it seemed to get sparked by their bigs getting out and running.
-The ball movement just died in the fourth quarter and they scored two points in the final five minutes of the game. I’m willing to bet the first thing happens less than five times this season and the second thing doesn’t happen again this season.
-Interesting game for Cory Joseph as he continues to adapt into a rotation player. Offensively, CoJo’s still finding confidence in his shot though it does seem like he’s figuring out that he can use his size to create space getting to the basket. Defensively he was the primary defender on Isaiah Thomas, who went off for 23 points on 10-17 shooting. In Joseph’s defense, Thomas cooked anyone that guarded him and really made some tough shots. Joseph’s insertion into the rotation makes me wonder if he’ll be a part of any small ball rotations. What would a Parker, CoJo, Green, Kawhi, Duncan (or Tiago Splitter) line up look like? In theory, that lineup could run and defend at the very least.
-Speaking of small ball, Austin Daye started at “center” with Splitter still out with a calf strain. Daye was stuck guarding a Morris twin all night and the problem is he’s just to slight to defend power forwards and he’s a little slow to guard the perimeter. It’s a similar situation Kyle Anderson’s in, except Anderson’s length will help him compensate. He doesn’t look lost on offense, which is really important, but I don’t know who he’s defending.
-It’s Game 2, the Spurs aren’t healthy yet and really they looked fine for more than half the game. Also, Phoenix is a funky team when you’re seeing them for the first time. Spurs are off again until Wednesday when Mike Budenholzer and the Atlanta Hawks come to town.
