Can the Spurs score 100+ PPG in the playoffs?

[Solid D]

We all know the Spurs win over 90% of the time when they score 100+. As teams zero in on tendencies in the playoffs, defenses get tighter and stingier.

Yes or No and why?

[Spurtacus]

Yes. This is the new Spurs ball. Pop's going to stick to his rotation for the most part.

[DPG21920]

Not sure but they have to in order to advance.

[timvp]

Tbh, I'd be surprised if the Spurs win a series in which they don't average more than 100 points per game. Maybe the Jazz but that's it.

[DPG21920]

I will be very interested to see if they can win games in the playoffs which they don't score 100. Last year, no, they could not. But this year they have had a few games where they have won ugly and unlike in recent years they have won a few times without being hot from 3.

[Solid D]

In the regular season, the Spurs were:
100+ PPG 38-4
95-99 PPG 4-5
90-94 PPG 3-1
85-89 PPG 4-3
84 or less 1-3
_____________
12-12 (.500) when scoring under 100 points (3-3 after the RJ trade)

[phxspurfan]

I think they can. Not every game, but on average they should be able to blow teams out quite a bit. It's hard to defend a hydra with multiple heads like teams try to do in the playoffs by going after one guy and locking him down (like what will happen to the Heat when LeBroom gets locked down). The Spurs have too much balanced firepower, a la the '05 Pistons. If they get some clutch shooting from the role players, they will easily break 100 on average.

And I want to see what Bonner does as far as playoff shooting this year. I think this is his year to break out and go JJ Redick on everybody.

[TampaDude]

If Bonner starts knocking down 3s in the playoffs, NBA = FUCKED. :lol

[Solid D]

When teams clog the lane, the Spurs can't get duped into walking it up and playing predictable 4-out, 1-in basketball.

[Solid D]

In last year's playoff series vs. Memphis, the Spurs averaged 94.3 PPG. They scored 100+ only once (110 in game 5).

Regular season 2010-11 they averaged 103.7 PPG (103.68), virtually identical to 2011-12 Spurs output (103.65).

Do you still think they can average 100+?

.

[silverblackfan]

I do believe they will score over 100 despite the increased defensive focus. I also think that Bonner will not shoot well. His defense is better, but his shot is tired at this point.

[Vito Corleone]

In order to stop the spurs offense they will need to control every aspect of the Spurs offense.

That means control the paint, Stop dribble penetration, and defend the 3 pt line, and most importantly stop the pick-n-roll.

not even the Jordan bulls could defend all of that effectively.

That is what makes this spurs team so deadly, their offense can kill an opponent in many different ways. Great 3 pt shooting, great pick-n-roll offense, lethal dribble penetration, and very good post offense with Duncan.

The team that can stop all that for 4 games is going to be pretty impressive.

Frankly there are only 2 teams I see being able to do that, and that is the Bulls and possibly the Lakers. I'm not convinced either one of them can.

My guess is that for any team to be truly successful it's going to be because we weren't able to stop them and they were able to slow us down, or more likely we stop hitting our shots.

[therealtruth]

In order to stop the spurs offense they will need to control every aspect of the Spurs offense.

That means control the paint, Stop dribble penetration, and defend the 3 pt line, and most importantly stop the pick-n-roll.

not even the Jordan bulls could defend all of that effectively.

That is what makes this spurs team so deadly, their offense can kill an opponent in many different ways. Great 3 pt shooting, great pick-n-roll offense, lethal dribble penetration, and very good post offense with Duncan.

The team that can stop all that for 4 games is going to be pretty impressive.

Frankly there are only 2 teams I see being able to do that, and that is the Bulls and possibly the Lakers. I'm not convinced either one of them can.

My guess is that for any team to be truly successful it's going to be because we weren't able to stop them and they were able to slow us down, or more likely we stop hitting our shots.

The Grizzlies did that pretty effectively last season. They clogged the lane and got back out on the shooters.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

i think bottom line is they need to score at least 100 to win games..

[TD 21]

Should have went with will instead of can. I'll say no, they won't, but only narrowly. If everything goes how I expect it to, then I think they will against the Jazz, won't against the Grizzlies, will against the Thunder and won't against the Heat/Bulls.

As far as the notion that they have to to win, I don't buy it. Last time I checked, they don't give up at or over 100, so why should they have to average more than that to win? Especially when you consider that Duncan, who's clearly their best defender, will see a significant spike in minutes, that Blair, who's one of their two worst defenders, will more than likely not be in the rotation and that Neal, who's also one of their two worst defenders, will probably have his minutes halved.

[timvp]

In last year's playoff series vs. Memphis, the Spurs averaged 94.3 PPG. They scored 100+ only once (110 in game 5).

Regular season 2010-11 they averaged 103.7 PPG (103.68), virtually identical to 2011-12 Spurs output (103.65).

Do you still think they can average 100+?

.

Last playoffs, when Richard Jefferson was on the bench, the Spurs averaged 101.7 points against the Grizzlies per 48 minutes. The Spurs had a lot of issues last year but RJ's one-dimensional play made the Spurs much too predictable.

Considering that this year's team can't be counted on to hold the opposition to much lower than 96 points per game, the Spurs need to be >100 ppg to make a championship run, IMO.

Last year the Mavs averaged 98.2 points per game. That probably wouldn't be high enough for the Spurs to win it all.

[TD 21]

Last playoffs, when Richard Jefferson was on the bench, the Spurs averaged 101.7 points against the Grizzlies per 48 minutes. The Spurs had a lot of issues last year but RJ's one-dimensional play made the Spurs much too predictable.

Considering that this year's team can't be counted on to hold the opposition to much lower than 96 points per game, the Spurs need to be >100 ppg to make a championship run, IMO.

Last year the Mavs averaged 98.2 points per game. That probably wouldn't be high enough for the Spurs to win it all.

Are you thinking that the most likely path -- which would see them face three elite offensive teams to win the championship -- would negate the potential for marked statistical improvement defensively? That they'll need at least a few blowouts to survive four rounds? Or both? If you're saying neither, then what you're saying makes no sense.

[Spurtacus]

If Bonner starts knocking down 3s in the playoffs, NBA = FUCKED. :lol

Or Splitter gets twice as many minutes as Bonner. :tu

[therealtruth]

Should have went with will instead of can. I'll say no, they won't, but only narrowly. If everything goes how I expect it to, then I think they will against the Jazz, won't against the Grizzlies, will against the Thunder and won't against the Heat/Bulls.

As far as the notion that they have to to win, I don't buy it. Last time I checked, they don't give up at or over 100, so why should they have to average more than that to win? Especially when you consider that Duncan, who's clearly their best defender, will see a significant spike in minutes, that Blair, who's one of their two worst defenders, will more than likely not be in the rotation and that Neal, who's also one of their two worst defenders, will probably have his minutes halved.

I am not sure Duncan will be able to handle a significant spike in minutes.

[TD 21]

I am not sure Duncan will be able to handle a significant spike in minutes.

By significant, I'm talking five, maybe five and a half mpg, which would take him to 33-34. I don't think that's asking too much, especially if the first series, as expected, goes no more than five.

[100%duncan]

Yes. If we want to win it all 100 is the key tbh.

[Solid D]

I think the Spurs can and will average at least 100 PPG versus Utah. Beyond that, it depends. Granted, they have to get past the first round this time...but if they do, then teams like Memphis would likely contest their shots more and play deeper into the shot clock.

Other potential opposition:
Grizzlies - no
Clippers - yes
Maverickss - no
Thunder - yes
Lakers - maybe
Nuggets - yes
Most likely East
Bulls - no
Heat - no
Celtics - no
Knicks - maybe

[Wild Cobra Kai]

The only fact you need to know: When T,T, and M play together. we are 17 PP100P better than the opposition. They only did that for less than 400 minutes this year, mainly because Manu was out for so long. Look for that combination to rock.

It's all about the plus/minus, too. Plus Manu/Minus RJ. :lol

[DAF86]

I expect their offensive production to go down but seeing how 120 was kinda the norm for this team lately, I think they will go down to 100/105.

[Spurs4#5]

normally i would say yes you should expect a drop off in points...but this team is just dismantling whoever it plays...so i expect this team to score at will against the jazz

[AlleyOopNazi]

If you have watched all the games since the player acquisitions, you have to think they will against Utah.

[Wild Cobra Kai]

Another factor that can hold you under a hundred is a blowout. If you get too big a lead, you sometimes pull your starters early and the benches duke it out. Ours is going to out duke any other bench. There is really also not any such thing as foul trouble on this team, either. We can always bring someone in off the bench at every position that can play NBA rotation basketball.

[maverick1948]

In the last 10 games we averaged 115 with various players resting during the run. With a healthy team, we can and will average over 100 ppg. I dont think Pop will change the minutes of the big 3 unless we get into trouble. He will continue to pound the opponent with wave after wave of fresh legs.

[Solid D]

Okay, first round is in the books.
Spurs average 102.25 ppg Jazz average 86.25 ppg +16 point diff.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Hellll yea

[ShoogarBear]

Outside of the PPG question, the difference between last year's team and this year's I think most would agree, is that last year's offense was done with a lot of smoke and mirrors, while this year it's much more legit. Pop can, without trying hard, have 3-4 legitimate 3-point point shooters out there at all times without needing to play Bonner 25 minutes.

And while the size and defense questions remain, I feel a lot better at being able to rotate Jax, Leonard, Diaw, and Splitter out there.

I think the natural history of grind-it-out playoff basketball will eventually take hold, though, and even the Spurs will average less than 100 in the later rounds.

[Spurs Brazil]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/42204/spurs-up-tempo-to-dispatch-jazz

Spurs up tempo to dispatch Jazz
By ESPN Stats & Information

With more than their share of 30-somethings, the San Antonio Spurs may not seem like a logical choice to have the best transition offense in the league. But after running the NBA's most effective transition attack in the regular season, the Spurs took their full-court game to another level in their sweep of the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

San Antonio scored 19.8 points per game in transition against Utah, an increase of nearly four points per game from its regular-season average. And the Spurs pinpoint shooting when on the break (62.2 percent from the floor) allowed them to average 1.30 points per play in transition, an increase from their NBA-best 1.24 transition points per play in the regular season.

But it isn't solely fast-break offense that has San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals for the 12th time in 15 seasons. The Spurs dominated the Jazz from the 3-point line as well, making 33 3-pointers to the Jazz's nine during the series. While San Antonio made 41 percent of its 3-pointers in the first round, the Jazz shot just 20 percent from 3-point territory, including an 0-13 performance Monday that was the Jazz's worst from beyond the arc in the regular season or postseason since Game 4 of the 2008 Western Conference first round vs. the Houston Rockets.

When a team performs as well as the Spurs did both on the run and from 3-point territory, it's not surprising that they often win by a substantial margin. San Antonio outscored Utah by 64 points in the first round, its second-best point differential ever in a playoff series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Spurs outscored the Denver Nuggets by 67 (664-597) in the 1983 Western Conference semifinals.

Elias also tells us that it's the Spurs' sixth postseason sweep since Tim Duncan's rookie season in 1997-98. Only the Los Angeles Lakers, with seven, have more in that span. For the Jazz, it's the second straight playoff series they've failed to win a game after being swept by the Lakers in the 2010 Western Conference semifinals. Utah's eight-game postseason losing streak is the longest in franchise history.

[cherylsteele]

Okay, first round is in the books.
Spurs average 102.25 ppg Jazz average 86.25 ppg +16 point diff.
That is nice and all but the stat I like the best is playoff's best 38.2% fg allowed by the Spurs, that is pointing to an ever improving defense the Spurs have been playing.

[SA210]

Even when we don't score 100, we get the W :tu