Chinook
12-11-2016, 05:16 PM
I don't think this game was in any doubt coming in. The Nets last won in San Antonio during the 2003 Finals, and have only won in San Antonio five times since the ABA merger. This season, the Nets have started poorly (as expected) and stand second-last in the Eastern Conference.
After the Spurs' abysmal showing against the Bulls on Thursday, Coach Pop chewed the team and it showed. The team came out firing, scoring 41 points in the first quarter (9 more points than they had all half on Thursday). They scored a season high of 130 points, 1 more than they had against Golden State. A good 29 point victory against a team they were supposed to beat.
Grades:
Tony Parker: B+
He started hot and focused early. Looked to drive to the basket which I thought was a sight for sore eyes. He finished with an efficient field goal percentage as well as a team high of 7 assists and no turnovers. Overall, a very solid performance by Tony Parker tonight.
Kawhi Leonard: A+
A 30 point performance with a massive block and steal tonight by our MVP. Knocked in four 3-pointers and had an amazing night. What I liked from him this game was that in addition to his scoring abilities, he was actively looking for his teammates on offense and recorded a few assists. He's slowly building himself as an amazing offensive weapon in addition to his great defensive power. An all around solid performance from him tonight.
Pau Gasol: C
Not the best performance from him, don't let his 15 points fool you. At the start of the 4th, he was 3-10 shooting with a few easy buckets he missed. Slow getting back defensively ("matador defense"), so much so Pop benched him for Bertans in the first due to the many layups that were given up. He finished the fourth with 3 straight made buckets, upping his point total. Definitely not impressed by him tonight.
Danny Green: C-
It was not his night. He wasn't really looking for his shots, but he also wasn't making the ones he did take. He even missed a free throw despite his high FT percentage. He'll look to pick it up on Wednesday.
LaMarcus Aldridge: B
Not the greatest statline for LaMarcus (only 12 points, another low scoring game for him) but I thought his movement without the ball as well as his interior defense was pretty good tonight. He did miss a bunny today though. He did have an efficient shooting percentage tonight of 60%, so I gave him extra credit for that.
Patty Mills: A-
He was hot tonight. You could tell he was feeling it when he pulled up twice for a three pointer on fast breaks and drilled them. He had active hands on defense and was instant offense. A very good game by Patty.
Jonathon Simmons: A-
A great spark off the bench with a nice alley-oop from Patty's pass. Also went 2-2 from three point land, which is remarkable considering he isn't our best outside shooter. He was active on defense and showed maturity by slowing down on offense during a helter-skelter pace. I liked his play tonight.
Davis Bertans: C
Not much to say about him tonight other than he was off on his shots. He only made a turnaround dunk with free throws made after a foul was committed when he was shooting a three. Went 0-3 from three point range and never got in a rhythm tonight, even though he played a bench-high 21 minutes tonight.
Dewayne Dedmon: C/INC
He only played a team-low 8 minutes so I can't comment too much on him. He had a nice -and 1 at the end of the half, as he did run the floor well in the open for a big man. Even though it was a blow out and he has had a few injury problems, I would have liked to see more of him tonight, but I understand that the match up wasn't the best for him as the Nets mostly have outside shooting big men on their roster. I also like how active he is on the bench and is genuinely happy for his teammates, much like a Patty Mills 2.0. He ran off the bench to help Tony Parker off the ground after Tony got an -and 1.
David Lee: B
He was a monster on the boards tonight in my opinion. He had the second highest amount of rebounds on the team tonight despite his height disadvantage. He has been a good spark of the bench for us this season.
Kyle Anderson & Nicolas Laprovittola: INC
Garbage time filler, but went a combined 2-8 with 2 turnovers.
After the Spurs' abysmal showing against the Bulls on Thursday, Coach Pop chewed the team and it showed. The team came out firing, scoring 41 points in the first quarter (9 more points than they had all half on Thursday). They scored a season high of 130 points, 1 more than they had against Golden State. A good 29 point victory against a team they were supposed to beat.
Grades:
Tony Parker: B+
He started hot and focused early. Looked to drive to the basket which I thought was a sight for sore eyes. He finished with an efficient field goal percentage as well as a team high of 7 assists and no turnovers. Overall, a very solid performance by Tony Parker tonight.
Kawhi Leonard: A+
A 30 point performance with a massive block and steal tonight by our MVP. Knocked in four 3-pointers and had an amazing night. What I liked from him this game was that in addition to his scoring abilities, he was actively looking for his teammates on offense and recorded a few assists. He's slowly building himself as an amazing offensive weapon in addition to his great defensive power. An all around solid performance from him tonight.
Pau Gasol: C
Not the best performance from him, don't let his 15 points fool you. At the start of the 4th, he was 3-10 shooting with a few easy buckets he missed. Slow getting back defensively ("matador defense"), so much so Pop benched him for Bertans in the first due to the many layups that were given up. He finished the fourth with 3 straight made buckets, upping his point total. Definitely not impressed by him tonight.
Danny Green: C-
It was not his night. He wasn't really looking for his shots, but he also wasn't making the ones he did take. He even missed a free throw despite his high FT percentage. He'll look to pick it up on Wednesday.
LaMarcus Aldridge: B
Not the greatest statline for LaMarcus (only 12 points, another low scoring game for him) but I thought his movement without the ball as well as his interior defense was pretty good tonight. He did miss a bunny today though. He did have an efficient shooting percentage tonight of 60%, so I gave him extra credit for that.
Patty Mills: A-
He was hot tonight. You could tell he was feeling it when he pulled up twice for a three pointer on fast breaks and drilled them. He had active hands on defense and was instant offense. A very good game by Patty.
Jonathon Simmons: A-
A great spark off the bench with a nice alley-oop from Patty's pass. Also went 2-2 from three point land, which is remarkable considering he isn't our best outside shooter. He was active on defense and showed maturity by slowing down on offense during a helter-skelter pace. I liked his play tonight.
Davis Bertans: C
Not much to say about him tonight other than he was off on his shots. He only made a turnaround dunk with free throws made after a foul was committed when he was shooting a three. Went 0-3 from three point range and never got in a rhythm tonight, even though he played a bench-high 21 minutes tonight.
Dewayne Dedmon: C/INC
He only played a team-low 8 minutes so I can't comment too much on him. He had a nice -and 1 at the end of the half, as he did run the floor well in the open for a big man. Even though it was a blow out and he has had a few injury problems, I would have liked to see more of him tonight, but I understand that the match up wasn't the best for him as the Nets mostly have outside shooting big men on their roster. I also like how active he is on the bench and is genuinely happy for his teammates, much like a Patty Mills 2.0. He ran off the bench to help Tony Parker off the ground after Tony got an -and 1.
David Lee: B
He was a monster on the boards tonight in my opinion. He had the second highest amount of rebounds on the team tonight despite his height disadvantage. He has been a good spark of the bench for us this season.
Kyle Anderson & Nicolas Laprovittola: INC
Garbage time filler, but went a combined 2-8 with 2 turnovers.