Intresting stat

[Fizzzar]

The Spurs are 33-3 this season whlie leading after the third quarter only behind Dallas (26-0) and Miami (27-1). And what's better is they are 4-5 when losing after three quarters only behind Washington (14-16).

Seems like 4th quarter meltdowns are a thing of the past.

[Taco]

Seems like 4th quarter meltdowns are a thing of the past.

Lets hope so!!!

Go Spurs!!!

[Extra Stout]

The Spurs have a lot more options on offense in the fourth quarter now.

[boutons]

Quarter 1 2 3 4 T
===========================
Spurs 26 17 37 23 103
Lakers 23 17 15 36 91

Last night the 4th was a Spurs defensive meltdown. The Kobe-less Lakers score 36?

After a horrendous 4th quarter, the Spurs were lucky they got away with a win, which they preserved only by starting the 4th qtr +25 pts.

The inconsistency is astounding by both teams in 3rd and 4th qtr scoring.

[Solid D]

I was about to post, "waiting for boutons to post in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." but then I noticed he beat me to it. :lol

[violentkitten]

when i come home after drinking and the spurs are playing a west coast game they are 4-0

[boutons]

What's to love about allowing a 36-pt 4th qtr?

You weren't nervous when LAL made their run and got to -9 pts, only a couple of posessions from equalizing?

[violentkitten]

actually i was feeling rather sedate and warm during the 4th

[exstatic]

I'm not as worried about the LA 4th Q. They didn't do that by attacking our defense, they did it by playing aggressive defense, and getting turnovers, which they converted into FB points. It's also not like they did it against our starting five. Manu was out there, and Tony did come back for about half of the 4th, but there was no Tim in sight. Without him, LA took a lot of chances at being aggressive against the ballhandlers, something that WON'T happen with him in the game.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Duncan should sit out the all star game and should take some time off now to get healthy, he already has a nagging knee injury.

[baseline bum]

That means the Spurs are a lousy 1-2 in games tied after 3 and 38-10 is a mirage

[Solid D]

What's to love about allowing a 36-pt 4th qtr?

You weren't nervous when LAL made their run and got to -9 pts, only a couple of posessions from equalizing?

No, not really. Just shaking my head a bit at some of the silly plays.

Don't worry...it wasn't a Divisional game. :lol

[ShoogarBear]

I was a little pissed during the fourth, but I also felt confident the Lakers had no one clutch enough to ride them home.

However, since there's a mini-run on "dump-on-boutons", did you know the Milwaukee Bucks are actually leading the Central?

[Spurminator]

Last night's fourth quarter lineup was awful. I doubt we'll see it again.

[Solid D]

When the Spurs have gone "small" in the past few games, they had a lineup like Beno, Manu, Brent, Devin and then Tim in the post. This time, they didn't have Tim as an inside threat - offensively nor defensively. Tim was on the bench.

[td4mvp21]

boutons you just find bad in everything dont you

[RobinsontoDuncan]

that was an ugly collaps anyway you look at it, it was a run that the Spurs, historically, will give up though, even during championship years they had some trouble keeping huge leads huge

[boutons]

The Spurs offense of 23 4th qtr pts without Tim is great.

Without Tim as defensive stopper, does anybody think it's understandable or acceptable that rest of the Spurs give up 36 4th qtr pts? Is the Spurs "team defense" without Tim really so weak?

Up 28 as the Spurs went nutz in the 3rd, the non-Tim Spurs could have done a better job of protecting a blowout lead in the 4th. The second unit just swapping baskets, or nearly, in the 4th could have had a nice little blowout reflected in a final score of +20.

Has anybody imagined the result if these Spurs (everybody healthy), re-played the 4 LAL losses today? With the same Lakers following the same tactic of shutting down the paint (the Spurs lifeblood) against Tim and driving?

Say it's not the the Lakers, but PHX (springing a nasty playoff surprise the way LAL did) or DET. Would these Spurs also be "gone fishin" with their paint points neutralized?

[boutons]

This season, afaics, only 4 others teams got so many 4th qtr pts vs Spurs, and they were all Spurs' losses.

@SEA: 41 L
@TOR: 33 L
@ORL: 29 L
@POR: 28 L
========
@LAL: 36 W

So the Spurs blew a huge lead @LAL, but hung on to preserve the win. That's better toughness than the above 4 losses.

[Fizzzar]

Last night they were overconfident, that's all. The Spurs won almost all the big games this year, the only statement game they lost was the second game vs SEA. In the most important 4th quarter of the season they destroyed PHO in their own arena. Every other 4th quarter collapse was against shitty teams just cause they thought the games were wrapped.

In the past, the Spurs used to beat every shitty team and lose against contenders, that was clearly a cause for concern, this isn't.