Spurs v Hawks Recap: Fortune Favors the Old
If you were born the last time the Atlanta Hawks beat the Spurs in San Antonio, you’re probably reading this as you await return letters from your college applications. In 17 tries, the Hawks have never managed to leave this city with a victory, and the streak has become something of a right of passage for the silver and black each NBA season.
But for Hawks fans, there’s a silver lining to this streak. For three consecutive seasons, the Spurs have had to dig deep to secure a victory against plucky Atlanta squads, and wednesday night’s contest was particularly close, as the Spurs found themselves down in the game’s closing minutes, needing a Manu Ginobili contortion to eke out the win.
You wouldn’t have predicted that outcome, though, watching the Spurs go to work in the first quarter. For the briefest of 12-minute spans, the team looked whole again, Tiago Splitter rolling to the basket for tough shots, Kawhi Leonard returning with an early rhythm. The extended time off seemed to do wonders for the team, who looked anxious from the tip to pick up after their loss to the Phoenix Suns five (!) days ago. The Spurs raced out to a double-digit lead less than ten minutes into the game.
A minute later, Marco Belinelli was on the floor, writhing in pain from a groin injury (daps to Sam Malone), and it was all down hill from there.
By the start of the second half, the Spurs were still clinging to their lead, but they found themselves without Belinelli and Splitter, who felt some pain in his calf but was likely held out for precautionary reasons. At one point, Danny Green had ripped part of his fingernail off on a backboard while blocking a shot, and Manu had had his nose stepped on and his Ginobilis smacked. You could see Cory Joseph considering a cup and a mouthguard during the next timeout.
Bruised and surely frustrated, the Spurs found themselves coughing the ball up to the tune of 19 turnovers, a number they were lucky to see, as other likely turnovers were rescued by the appearance of a giant Leonard hand or the trajectory of a fortunate bounce. For a variety of reasons – injuries, the target on their backs after last year’s title, perhaps even motivation – San Antonio’s engine is taking a little longer to warm up in the driveway.
You’d be forgiven to assume that it would be the old guys struggling the most, but the storyline in this early season has been the production of the Big Three. This was not a perfect game for any of them. Sure, Tony Parker had seven assists, but he also gave the ball away seven times. And yes, Manu Ginobili’s late game drive saved the night, but he was also pretty inefficient from the floor. Even Tim Duncan’s great line – 17 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, three steals, four assists, zero turnovers – was marred by poor shooting, from the floor and from the free throw line.
But these marks were not enough to keep them from taking control of the game, each stepping forward at crucial moments in perfect concert within the flow of the game. The night started with a Parker exhibition in the opening quarter, turned with a key block from Duncan on a Kyle Korver layup, and ended with two Ginobili free throws off a drawn foul. (And for the record, that was absolutely a foul, even if all of us were surprised to see it called at such a crucial moment.) As teams around the league seek to emulate the passing-rich, movement-based offensive formula that has made San Antonio so successful, you have to wonder if any team can really aspire to the same success without three big talents capable of meshing with such fluidity.
Well the Hawks are committed to trying, and though the names on the roster might not jump out at you in the same way, the dividends of the team’s evolution under Mike Budenholzer are apparent. While Jeff Teague did struggle from the floor, he got the ball moving as Atlanta ran many of the same sets that San Antonio has made a living off of, and on the other side of the ball, the Hawks were prepared for what the Spurs were rolling out. Paul Millsap was a monster, DeMarre Carroll was efficient, and Dennis Schroder nearly brought the house down with a filthy dunk. The whole thing might have turned out differently had Korver made more than one of his five three-point attempts, giving the Spurs room for an escape on par with something from a Final Destination movie.
With some grit and a little bit of luck, the streak lives on for another season, but from here on out, these games are likely to stay close, as much of San Antonio’s core nears retirement and the Hawks begin to gel around Budenholzer’s leadership. Atlanta is an absolute blast to watch, and the pieces have found a system to let them flourish. When these two teams meet again in March, the Spurs might need more than some good fortune to leave with a win.
