The Margin: San Antonio Spurs 107, Phoenix Suns 100

by Graydon Gordian

Ed. Note: Rob Mahoney, my spirit animal and proprietor of the TrueHoop Network’s Two Man Game, has a unique style of game recap. He takes the margin of the final score and posts a note for every point. I’m going to being shamelessly doing a half-hearted version of his idea with some regularity.

It hasn’t even been 12 hours since the game ended and already it’s fading from my memory. But let’s see if I can whip a few notes together nonetheless.

• The Suns are a shadow of their former selves, but after years of slugging it out with Phoenix, I still get excited for games against them.
• Diaw is adding an interesting new dimension to the offense. (And I’m not referring to his waistline.) He sees the floor differently than any of our other big men and it’s leading to interesting new improvised plays and passing opportunities. Everyone should know to be on the move, and more specifically headed towards the rim, when Diaw’s got the ball, because he’ll find you.
• Whenever there’s a Parker-to-Diaw assist (or vice versa), we’re referring to it as the French Connection. So it is written, so shall it be. (H/T Beckley Mason, who came up with the moniker.)
• Alvin Gentry and Steve Nash deserve tremendous credit for leading that collection of players to a .500 record in the Western Conference.
• Going forward, you can just assume one of these bullets will be about how much I love Kawhi Leonard. This is that bullet.
• One of Manu Ginobili’s most underrated abilities is his rebounding. Between his nose for the ball, his bursts of energy and his underrated leap, he’s an excellent rebounder for his position. There were a number of instances last night in which that ability was on display.
• Speaking of Ginobili, is it just me or is Manu starting to look more like Manu again?

In other news, my rec league basketball team won last night to improve to a gaudy 2-0. Further rec league updates to come as the season progresses.