El Conclusion: Duncan spoils the DeJuan Blair Revenge Game

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San Antonio Spurs 116 FinalRecap | Box Score 107 Dallas Mavericks
Tim Duncan, PF Shot Chart 32 MIN | 7-16 FG | 7-8 FT | 13 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 21 PTS | -7

37 years old, playing in a back to back and he just got better as the night went along. Play of the night wasn’t his back to back fourth quarter makes when the Mavs pulled within three, and it wasn’t a block on Samuel Dalembert on the other end, though all of those things happened and it was awesome. The play of the night was when the Spurs went back to Duncan after all that happened, the Mavs quickly double teamed and he quickly whipped it to Danny Green who hit a corner three to make it a six point game. Long live Timothy Theodore Duncan.

Kawhi Leonard, SF Shot Chart 28 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -9

He was plagued by foul trouble for most of the night, but man did he have an insane steal against Monta Ellis. Ellis literally put his body in between the ball and Kawhi and Kawhi still stole the ball, then won the ensuing scramble. He’s like Dhalsim from Street Fighter.

Tiago Splitter, C Shot Chart 23 MIN | 2-4 FG | 8-11 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | -4

Split time guarding Dirk with Boris Diaw, which is a hell of a thing to have to do on the second night of a back to back. Still he stayed aggressive on the offensive end, which is always a positive sign. Good things happen when he pump fakes one or fewer times.

Tony Parker, PG Shot Chart 33 MIN | 6-18 FG | 11-12 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 23 PTS | -7

Took over in the third quarter and seemed to have a good understanding that no Mavericks defender stood a chance of staying in front of him.

Marco Belinelli, SG Shot Chart 19 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +8

Played less tonight because Danny Green went off again, but let’s just end this Marco starts experiment. Separating him from his conjoined twin, Manu Ginobili, has been tough on him.

Jeff Ayres, PF Shot Chart 8 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +13

Hustle, hustle, hustle.

Matt Bonner, PF Shot Chart 0 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0

#LetBonnerShoot

Boris Diaw, PF Shot Chart 27 MIN | 5-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | +16

Nice bounce back game from Bobo. 10, 5 and 5 is pretty much the ideal Diaw stat line. He also did as good a job denying Dirk from getting ideal post position on more than one occasion.

Patty Mills, PG Shot Chart 15 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +16

Not a high enough #PattyMillsShotCount tonight.

Danny Green, SG Shot Chart 27 MIN | 7-7 FG | 3-3 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 22 PTS | +18

The IcyHot roller coaster ride just keeps twisting and turning. He was perfect tonight shooting. He also played some great defense. START DANNY GREEN (we’re likely going to type the exact opposite opinion Sunday against the Kings).

Manu Ginobili, SG Shot Chart 28 MIN | 2-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 8 PTS | +1

One mediocre game won’t stop the #Manu6MOY train.

Aron Baynes, PF Shot Chart DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

HAPPY BOXING DAY!

Cory Joseph, PG Shot Chart DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

HAPPY BOXING DAY!

Gregg Popovich

For the second game in a row, we saw a small ball line up with Kawhi Leonard at the four. They’ve now got two days off before playing the Kings at home, so dudes get some rest and hey, they’re might even be a practice snuck in there.

One Thing We Saw

  1. Just wanted to say some quick words on DeJuan Blair. Tonight, he scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. I always liked Blair despite his limitations as a player. I didn’t care that he thought he should be playing more and I’m glad the inconsistency in minutes didn’t shake his confidence. Anyways, he wasn’t in the Spurs long term plans once Diaw came to town and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nice game, DeJuan.
  • td4life

    Disagree about switching Green and Marco back any time soon. Let everybody build chemistry across the roster now, during the winter. Plus, Danny is the best option we currently have to sub in for Kawhi, and since he’s played great in two of the last three games, let’s keep that going. Marco and Manu have their thing down pat, they don’t need a ton of reps. But let’s see if Marco can figure it out with the starters, and if he can eventually give the starters the boost they need. If Marco’s destiny is as a bench guy, then Manu should get some starts, to get the first unit the first unit the additional ball-handler they could use and move Kawhi back to the corners where he can focus on draining threes.

    Long live Timmy, and may he never hang ’em up.

    Blair’s always been a nice center to have if you play him with a stretch big and don’t care all that much about defense. He’s kind of like JJ Hickson in that respect. I do like watching his go-to “TP teardrop” though.

  • BadOne

    The lack of defense is really becoming disturbing. We look like the 2011 team that scored alot but didn’t defend worth a damn.

  • Tyler

    Umm…they’re sporting the 2nd best defense (in terms of efficiency) not counting the last two games….

  • Tyler

    Check that, they’re currently 5th in defensive efficiency.

  • Titletown99030507d

    I like the block Tiago put on Blair under the rim. Sorry dancing bear. Plus he didnt even finish the last 4 min of the game. So much for Cuban being high on him. Anyway on to more important part of my post, I think Manu should start or bring Tiago off the bench so he can be on the court with Manu. Tiago was far more effective offensively when he played with the 2nd unit. Still needs to play 25-30 minutes to get in his groove. No more experiments pop just get Tiago on track again.

  • WildGorgh

    Faka you, you know no spanish, what a khel is el conclusion couldn’t you finished the whole headline in TexMex.

  • td4life

    El Conclusion is a play on Ginobili’s nickname, which is El Contusion. They know that it’s improper Spanish, but it’s worth it for the joke.