Defense is where its at...

[ElNono]

I thought this was a game we had no business even being close... we shot sub-40% for the entire game, and on 3 pointers 18%... assisted very poorly by Spurs' standards (Tony only 3, Manu only 2), and were out-rebounded by almost double-digits (8).

But we played good D for most of the game, and that gave us a solid chance. There's no way we go to overtime last season with that kind of offense and last season's defense.

I think the team has made really solid strides defensively. And win or lose, that kind of defense will always give you a chance. Let's hope we don't regress on that aspect. We really need to tighten that up and keep it going heading into the playoffs.

[tim_duncan_fan]

Amen.

[jag]

Agreed. Splitter-Duncan combo has helped that. But Kawhi and Danny are much improved with their team defense. Gonna need Tony to play high pressure defense in the postseason.

[Budkin]

I thought this was a game we had no business even being close... we shot sub-40% for the entire game, and on 3 pointers 18%... assisted very poorly by Spurs' standards (Tony only 3, Manu only 2), and were out-rebounded by almost double-digits (8).

But we played good D for most of the game, and that gave us a solid chance. There's no way we go to overtime last season with that kind of offense and last season's defense.

I think the team has made really solid strides defensively. And win or lose, that kind of defense will always give you a chance. Let's hope we don't regress on that aspect. We really need to tighten that up and keep it going heading into the playoffs.

Damn good take and better to focus on the big picture.

[racm]

I thought this was a game we had no business even being close... we shot sub-40% for the entire game, and on 3 pointers 18%... assisted very poorly by Spurs' standards (Tony only 3, Manu only 2), and were out-rebounded by almost double-digits (8).

But we played good D for most of the game, and that gave us a solid chance. There's no way we go to overtime last season with that kind of offense and last season's defense.

I think the team has made really solid strides defensively. And win or lose, that kind of defense will always give you a chance. Let's hope we don't regress on that aspect. We really need to tighten that up and keep it going heading into the playoffs.

The Spurs held the best three point shooting team in the league to far below their season average.

[racm]

And the Spurs weren't really running Spurs ball most of the night - instead of trying to find an open shot at the rim I frequently saw many possessions settling for a jump shot. You can't beat the Warriors through trying to out jump-shot them.

[crc21209]

GREAT take. :tu Without that D tonight, we probably lose by 15-20 points...

[racm]

One thing about last year's squad was that they built up leads through hot shooting

[timvp]

One of the better OPs of the season, tbh :tu

The Warriors scored less than a point per possession. If the Spurs play that type of defense, they are going to win a vast majority of the time. It took bad shooting from one-point land, two-point land and three-point land -- plus Parker running out of gas -- to lose tonight.

[racm]

One of the better OPs of the season, tbh :tu

The Warriors scored less than a point per possession. If the Spurs play that type of defense, they are going to win a vast majority of the time. It took bad shooting from one-point land, two-point land and three-point land -- plus Parker running out of gas -- to lose tonight.

Great defense and a surprisingly ugly effort on offense? I'll take it.

When you've got great play on both ends (more the norm than the exception for this team), you get stuff like the 26 point win at LA.

[dylankerouac]

Good take ElNono.

[Richie]

One of the better OPs of the season, tbh :tu

The Warriors scored less than a point per possession. If the Spurs play that type of defense, they are going to win a vast majority of the time. It took bad shooting from one-point land, two-point land and three-point land -- plus Parker running out of gas -- to lose tonight.

While I agree with the last sentence, I feel it does a disservice to the Warriors. I thought they played great D tonight, hustled very hard.

[racm]

While I agree with the last sentence, I feel it does a disservice to the Warriors. I thought they played great D tonight, hustled very hard.

I think they play better D without Bogut around simply because they have a better idea of who goes where.

[chapnis]

I haven't seen anyone cliff jumping from this loss, what is going on?

[racm]

I haven't seen anyone cliff jumping from this loss, what is going on?

1. It was an OT loss in one of the best HCAs in the league
2. It's not OKC/LAC/MIA
3. It's a SEGABABA
4. LAC lost by 26 the previous night

[HI-FI]

guess i'll join in the El Nono love-in but it's a good point. we had no business being in this game with our shitty shooting and some dumb turnovers. the TD/Tiago/Kawhi defense is becoming a bit nasty tbh.

[chapnis]

guess i'll join in the El Nono love-in but it's a good point. we had no business being in this game with our shitty shooting and some dumb turnovers. the TD/Tiago/Kawhi defense is becoming a bit nasty tbh.

TD had some big blocks down the stretch.

[weeks]

i'm not happy with the loss but i'm still riding the high from the game against the clippers.
if i had to split one of these back to backs we won the correct one
so that helps put that into perspective

in terms of defense, our improvement from last year really is what makes me start giving this team my faith again. i was burned badly last year but i still want to believe

[silverblackfan]

Agreed that the defense was the key in keeping the game reasonable and obtainable. The guys just were leaving a lot of shots short on offense, which I attributed to lack of energy. I think blowing out the Clippers took more out of the team that expected.
Tim played a lot of minutes, so I hope he can recover by Sunday's game.

[Cane]

Best moral victory in a while...not only was it good d, but the Spurs also fought against Pop's subpar coaching, a bullshit makeup call for GSW against Ginobili, and GSW's youth....not to mention having to Neal with it

Still not happy at seeing David Lee getting a career night 25pts/22rebounds on 50% shooting but at least it took 20 FGA to reach those numbers

Also not thrilled at seeing a Sefolosha-like adjustment on Parker

But yea not bad

[rold50]

Agreed. However, it seems that last night offensively the Spurs were too stagnant. Lots of players just standing around or just going through the motions.

[dbreiden83080]

Last night’s game had loss written all over it given the Warriors having been off and Spurs on the 2nd of the back to back. They came in looking to make a statement against the Clips because they lost the first 2 games to them. I was shocked that game with the Warriors was even close, they had a great chance to win down the stretch of the 4th and OT. D was solid, O was off last night. Time to kill the Suns these next 2 games...

[Obstructed_View]

The Spurs' offense wasn't clicking, nobody was sharing the ball, they weren't able to draw fouls, and they still had a chance. It's just like the old days. Like Barkley said, defense don't take a night off.

[Fireball]

While I agree with the last sentence, I feel it does a disservice to the Warriors. I thought they played great D tonight, hustled very hard.

this ... do not sell their effort short

[racm]

this ... do not sell their effort short

David Lee looked like Kevin Love while Jarrett Jack looked like prime Steve Nash, really... but the Spurs held them to below a point per possession. :hat

[Fireball]

David Lee looked like Kevin Love while Jarrett Jack looked like prime Steve Nash, really... but the Spurs held them to below a point per possession. :hat

We all agree that the Spurs played great defense in that game, but the Warriors did as well. Thats my only point. We missed shots and did not move the ball as well as we normally do because the Warriors did something very right on the defensive side of the ball as well.

[racm]

We all agree that the Spurs played great defense in that game, but the Warriors did as well. Thats my only point. We missed shots and did not move the ball as well as we normally do because the Warriors did something very right on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Like closing out on shooters well while basically denying the paint?

[TrainOfThought5]

Like closing out on shooters well while basically denying the paint?

or daring Tony Parker to be the superstar his fans long for him to be?

[FRE3]

Hey, it's our 3rd game after the all-star break... we had the LAC the night before (their 1st game after the ASG)... then we had GSW a SEGABABA on the road which is also a strong playoff team, young and athletic(also their 1st game after the ASG)... I did expect them to lose this one... i was surprised we had a chance to win it... I think the only time CIA pop coached this game was during the last minute... Did a very good drawn play to send it to overtime... Just need a lil bit of fine tuning...

[therealtruth]

or daring Tony Parker to be the superstar his fans long for him to be?

Somebody mentioned it earlier as well but it is hard to win games from the perimeter only. That explains why not too many point guards lead a team to a championship. Lebron failed in the Finals before he developed a post game. Expecting to always dribble penetration is not going to work against the good defensive teams. They will close out on shooters and still deny the paint. At that point the Spurs best bet is that the other team get tired first.

[playblair]

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[Brunodf]

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:wowNo Big 3