Robz4000
01-04-2017, 12:38 AM
The Story:
The Toronto Raptors came into the AT&T Center at the end of a long 6-game road trip that began before Christmas with a record of 23-10 (3-2 on their current road trip). The Spurs, meanwhile, played their first game at home this year following a a tough OT loss to the Hawks in Atlanta. With both teams being the 2-seed in their respective conferences, and with the history of these two teams' games in recent years, this was expected to be one of the better games of the NBA season. Instead we got a laugher from just about start to finish in the Spurs' favor.
The first quarter looked like it might start off rocky as per par with this team following a bad turnover by Danny Green. Thankfully it proved to be a microcosm as behind strong play from LMA in the post and outside the paint on both ends, Kawhi hitting literally everything, and Tony running the offense like a champ the Spurs quickly found themselves up 29-12. Unfortunately, things changed when the bench checked in and the Spurs saw hesitant play on the offensive end coupled with DeRozan hitting retarded shot after retarded shot saw the lead halved quickly before the team recovered to put the lead back at 11 by the end of the first quarter.
The second saw the lead generally stay between 9 and 13 points with neither bench playing well until LMA checked back in to push the lead back above 15. Once Kawhi and Tony rejoined their teammate the lead ballooned to 22 behind more strong shooting by Kawhi and LMA. This would end up being the biggest lead of the first half. In one of Pop's only head-scratching sequences of the game, he called a timeout that somewhat killed the Spurs' momentum and later checked Kawhi out with 2 mins to go in the half. This gave Toronto the chance to find their offensive rhythm a bit by scoring on four straight possessions. Unfortunately for Toronto they happen to be a bad defensive team; the Spurs kept pace and managed to go into halftime with a 60-41 lead.
The beginning of the third quarter was a scary one for the Spurs. Toronto came into the second half with a vengeance, scoring at the rim, on the perimeter, and with whatever the hell DeScruban decided to throw up while on the other end Gasol missed several open midrange shots. The lead shrunk to as little as 12 before Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge went on a scoring binge of his own, capped of by a 3-pointer by Tony himself to put the lead back to 20. From then on Toronto never threatened again and the lead grew to 30 points behind a strong second stint from the bench, most notably Dewayne Dedmon who was substituted in for Gasol after a poor defensive sequence.
The fourth quarter was glorified practice time for both teams. The main highlights of this period was the block party the Spurs decided to throw, started by rookie Dejounte Murray's chase-down of CoJo after his turnover and finished by back-to-back monster swats by Dedmon and Bertans. Overall, this game was the best game for Kawhi/LMA/Parker as a trio so far in two years; what's more, when you look at how average to below-average the rest of the team looked in comparison and the Spurs still gave Toronto (the best offense statistically in the league, mind you) their only true beat-down of the season? That's impressive no matter how you swing it.
Now on to Denver to face the Nuggets.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-LMA is such an impactful player on both ends when he puts the effort in and isn't soft. If this is the LMA we're gonna get the rest of the way (iirc this is the point he picked it up last season) then :wow...
-Kawhi isn't that great at finishing around the rim, but he more than makes up for it with his ability to shoot the ball. However, it hammers down the fact the Spurs need a penetrator that can finish, which brings on my next point...
-MVParker has been on full display the past couple weeks. If he can keep it up then the Spurs definitely have all the tools they need to hang with Golden State and maybe win. Not so sure against teams like LAC/Utah/OKC that can exploit the Spurs' in other ways (soft big(s), terrible PnR defense, depth that can match or surpass the Spurs') but they definitely match up with the Dubs better than anyone else.
-I've been pretty vocal about my dislike of Gasol so far (a lot of effort issues on top of his already terrible feet on defense) but it looks like Pop is starting to get fed up with it too. The minutes distribution between him and Dedmon was more in Dedmon's favor tonight than we've usually seen, so hopefully the gulf in minutes keeps growing in his favor.
-Tonight was the first we've seen of Bertans in extended minutes since the MIL game (where he was ejected). Even though it was garbage time, I loved just about everything I saw from him tonight. Pop needs to get him back in the rotation; maybe give him some of Lee's minutes?
-We've all talked about Murray's explosiveness and ability to get to the rim on the offensive end, but the dude has the chance to be something truly special on the defensive end as well. Pop seems to think so as well since he was coaching him pretty hard during game stoppage on how to handle CoJo/Ross.
-Toronto, the #1 offense statistically in the NBA, had 59 points with 10 minutes to go in the game. :wow IN THE GAME. Most impressive defense the Spurs have played as a team so far this season.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - A-
Kawhi's second game back from the doo-doos was hundreds of times better than the first. He scored very efficiently, hitting 5-of-7 from three (all five in the first half) and 8-12 overall with some great defense on just about everyone. His only knock tonight was letting DeRozan go off, but most of his makes on Leonard were just tough shots and no one in the NBA takes more of those than DeScrub DeRozan himself. Most underrated impact of the game tonight was Leonard's rim protection against Toronto's small frontline.
LaMarcus Aldridge - A+
Man I love this version of LMA. Dude was imposing his will in the post tonight, hitting his wide open jumpers (including a nice 3-pointer), and passed out of double teams like a champ. He was also really strong on the defensive end whether in the post or out on the perimeter. Despite only having 8 rebounds I thought he boxed out really well and could've easily had 14+ if he so wished.
Danny Green - B+
Wasn't much need for LDN tonight with the team playing so well, but he definitely made his impact by shooting 2/3 from downtown and obliterating anyone he was guading on the defensive end up until the game was well in-hand. He did have two really bad turnovers early on, but they proved to be meaningless.
Tony Parker - A+
Best game from Tony this season. The last week has been an absolute joy to watch for Parker-stans, but tonight was his best all-around game since Game 3 against OKC last season. He ran the show well, setting up LMA and Kawhi and getting them rolling early with some nice finishes in the paint. In the second half when it appeared Toronto may threaten to make it a game he shut them down by scoring 7 straight points with some nice passes to LMA to push the lead again. If the Spurs get this version of Tony the rest of the way they truly will be a force to be reckoned with.
Pau Gasol - C
Gasol was the only somewhat downside to tonight's game. While he did play well against Valanciunus, against any other Toronto player he was either blown by or beaten for the rebound and gave up the easy put-back. Often times we saw Gasol let easy rebounds go by him for Toronto players to pick up, but thankfully they didn't make the Spurs pay much tonight. On offense he did keep the ball moving with the starters, but when it came to shooting he just couldn't seem to get it going.
Dewayne Dedmon - A-
Dedmon was an absolute menace in the post tonight, shutting down a lot of Toronto's drives to the rim and boxing out etremely well; like LMA he easily could've had double-digit rebounds if he so chose. He showed a really nice finish on the break from Tony early on, which has been a nice part of his game so far this season. Unfortunately he seems to get blocked at the rim rather easily and did so a few times tonight. Had a really nice volleyball spike in the fourth to show off det athleticism too.
Manu Ginobili - B
Spurs simply didn't need Super Manu tonight with Tony/LMA/Kawhi playing so well. Manu had a rather quiet game tonight, but fit in rather well on offense while playing the three-point line well on both ends. When he's left wide-open on the perimeter this season Manu really has been money which will be huge come playoff time.
Patty Mills - B+
Similarly with Manu, the Spurs simply didn't need Mills to force things tonight with the starters playing so well. Even then, Mills found ways to contribute without scoring with solid playmaking and rebounding especially when considering CoJo was his primary defender. Also didn't get lit up by CoJo on the defensive end.
Jonathon Simmons - B
Simmons was all over the place tonight, with both positive and negative results. He started off his stint passing up open 3-pointers that hurt the offense (and the one he chose to take was a bad shot). On the other hand, his defense on Ross was great and later on in the game he really brought it for the bench after the unit's poor stint in the first half. He has gotten better at not turning it over when he drives into the paint which can only help him draw fouls as his career goes on.
David Lee - B-
Quiet game from Lee for the most part. Since Toronto doesn't play with a lot of true bigs outside JV and Dedmon was having a great game he didn't have any consistent playing time. However, when he was in he played well on the offensive end and had a couple nice defensive sequences on the defensive end as well (though overall he was below average on that end as we've come to expect). Love having two good rebounders on the bench this year as opposed to last year.
Kyle Anderson - B
Barely noticed ol' Fathead on the court tonight, with all his time coming when the game was way out of reach. When I did pay attention to him he was rebounding well and had a couple assists with one headscratching TO. Not too much to take away from his play tonight but I'll be nice.
Dejounte Murray - C+
Real up-and-down game for Murray tonight. He was being guarded by our old friend CoJo most of his playing time, and we all know how difficult he can be on the defensive end. He did have a really nice floater at the end, and his shot looks better than it did in Summer League (though he missed the two he took). His sequence against CoJo at the beginning of his stint really summed up his night: had a bad turnover against CoJo, chased him down and made a great block, only to turn it right over out of bounds once again.
Davis Bertans - A
It was only garbage time, but I liked a lot of what I saw from Big Lat tonight. Had a couple good (one great) block, hit a three, and even sucked in the defense and set up an easy dunk for his teammate. Pop needs to get him back in the rotation, at least for 5-7 mins a game; dude deserves it.
Pop - A-
One of the best games from Pop this season. Didn't play any wonky lineups, had a clear game plan for the team going in, got into the officials/players when needed, and called plays for those who were feeling it and got on whoever was running the show whenever they missed an open man/had a terrible decision. Only complaint were two TOs called when the team could've piled it on in the first half.
The Toronto Raptors came into the AT&T Center at the end of a long 6-game road trip that began before Christmas with a record of 23-10 (3-2 on their current road trip). The Spurs, meanwhile, played their first game at home this year following a a tough OT loss to the Hawks in Atlanta. With both teams being the 2-seed in their respective conferences, and with the history of these two teams' games in recent years, this was expected to be one of the better games of the NBA season. Instead we got a laugher from just about start to finish in the Spurs' favor.
The first quarter looked like it might start off rocky as per par with this team following a bad turnover by Danny Green. Thankfully it proved to be a microcosm as behind strong play from LMA in the post and outside the paint on both ends, Kawhi hitting literally everything, and Tony running the offense like a champ the Spurs quickly found themselves up 29-12. Unfortunately, things changed when the bench checked in and the Spurs saw hesitant play on the offensive end coupled with DeRozan hitting retarded shot after retarded shot saw the lead halved quickly before the team recovered to put the lead back at 11 by the end of the first quarter.
The second saw the lead generally stay between 9 and 13 points with neither bench playing well until LMA checked back in to push the lead back above 15. Once Kawhi and Tony rejoined their teammate the lead ballooned to 22 behind more strong shooting by Kawhi and LMA. This would end up being the biggest lead of the first half. In one of Pop's only head-scratching sequences of the game, he called a timeout that somewhat killed the Spurs' momentum and later checked Kawhi out with 2 mins to go in the half. This gave Toronto the chance to find their offensive rhythm a bit by scoring on four straight possessions. Unfortunately for Toronto they happen to be a bad defensive team; the Spurs kept pace and managed to go into halftime with a 60-41 lead.
The beginning of the third quarter was a scary one for the Spurs. Toronto came into the second half with a vengeance, scoring at the rim, on the perimeter, and with whatever the hell DeScruban decided to throw up while on the other end Gasol missed several open midrange shots. The lead shrunk to as little as 12 before Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge went on a scoring binge of his own, capped of by a 3-pointer by Tony himself to put the lead back to 20. From then on Toronto never threatened again and the lead grew to 30 points behind a strong second stint from the bench, most notably Dewayne Dedmon who was substituted in for Gasol after a poor defensive sequence.
The fourth quarter was glorified practice time for both teams. The main highlights of this period was the block party the Spurs decided to throw, started by rookie Dejounte Murray's chase-down of CoJo after his turnover and finished by back-to-back monster swats by Dedmon and Bertans. Overall, this game was the best game for Kawhi/LMA/Parker as a trio so far in two years; what's more, when you look at how average to below-average the rest of the team looked in comparison and the Spurs still gave Toronto (the best offense statistically in the league, mind you) their only true beat-down of the season? That's impressive no matter how you swing it.
Now on to Denver to face the Nuggets.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-LMA is such an impactful player on both ends when he puts the effort in and isn't soft. If this is the LMA we're gonna get the rest of the way (iirc this is the point he picked it up last season) then :wow...
-Kawhi isn't that great at finishing around the rim, but he more than makes up for it with his ability to shoot the ball. However, it hammers down the fact the Spurs need a penetrator that can finish, which brings on my next point...
-MVParker has been on full display the past couple weeks. If he can keep it up then the Spurs definitely have all the tools they need to hang with Golden State and maybe win. Not so sure against teams like LAC/Utah/OKC that can exploit the Spurs' in other ways (soft big(s), terrible PnR defense, depth that can match or surpass the Spurs') but they definitely match up with the Dubs better than anyone else.
-I've been pretty vocal about my dislike of Gasol so far (a lot of effort issues on top of his already terrible feet on defense) but it looks like Pop is starting to get fed up with it too. The minutes distribution between him and Dedmon was more in Dedmon's favor tonight than we've usually seen, so hopefully the gulf in minutes keeps growing in his favor.
-Tonight was the first we've seen of Bertans in extended minutes since the MIL game (where he was ejected). Even though it was garbage time, I loved just about everything I saw from him tonight. Pop needs to get him back in the rotation; maybe give him some of Lee's minutes?
-We've all talked about Murray's explosiveness and ability to get to the rim on the offensive end, but the dude has the chance to be something truly special on the defensive end as well. Pop seems to think so as well since he was coaching him pretty hard during game stoppage on how to handle CoJo/Ross.
-Toronto, the #1 offense statistically in the NBA, had 59 points with 10 minutes to go in the game. :wow IN THE GAME. Most impressive defense the Spurs have played as a team so far this season.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - A-
Kawhi's second game back from the doo-doos was hundreds of times better than the first. He scored very efficiently, hitting 5-of-7 from three (all five in the first half) and 8-12 overall with some great defense on just about everyone. His only knock tonight was letting DeRozan go off, but most of his makes on Leonard were just tough shots and no one in the NBA takes more of those than DeScrub DeRozan himself. Most underrated impact of the game tonight was Leonard's rim protection against Toronto's small frontline.
LaMarcus Aldridge - A+
Man I love this version of LMA. Dude was imposing his will in the post tonight, hitting his wide open jumpers (including a nice 3-pointer), and passed out of double teams like a champ. He was also really strong on the defensive end whether in the post or out on the perimeter. Despite only having 8 rebounds I thought he boxed out really well and could've easily had 14+ if he so wished.
Danny Green - B+
Wasn't much need for LDN tonight with the team playing so well, but he definitely made his impact by shooting 2/3 from downtown and obliterating anyone he was guading on the defensive end up until the game was well in-hand. He did have two really bad turnovers early on, but they proved to be meaningless.
Tony Parker - A+
Best game from Tony this season. The last week has been an absolute joy to watch for Parker-stans, but tonight was his best all-around game since Game 3 against OKC last season. He ran the show well, setting up LMA and Kawhi and getting them rolling early with some nice finishes in the paint. In the second half when it appeared Toronto may threaten to make it a game he shut them down by scoring 7 straight points with some nice passes to LMA to push the lead again. If the Spurs get this version of Tony the rest of the way they truly will be a force to be reckoned with.
Pau Gasol - C
Gasol was the only somewhat downside to tonight's game. While he did play well against Valanciunus, against any other Toronto player he was either blown by or beaten for the rebound and gave up the easy put-back. Often times we saw Gasol let easy rebounds go by him for Toronto players to pick up, but thankfully they didn't make the Spurs pay much tonight. On offense he did keep the ball moving with the starters, but when it came to shooting he just couldn't seem to get it going.
Dewayne Dedmon - A-
Dedmon was an absolute menace in the post tonight, shutting down a lot of Toronto's drives to the rim and boxing out etremely well; like LMA he easily could've had double-digit rebounds if he so chose. He showed a really nice finish on the break from Tony early on, which has been a nice part of his game so far this season. Unfortunately he seems to get blocked at the rim rather easily and did so a few times tonight. Had a really nice volleyball spike in the fourth to show off det athleticism too.
Manu Ginobili - B
Spurs simply didn't need Super Manu tonight with Tony/LMA/Kawhi playing so well. Manu had a rather quiet game tonight, but fit in rather well on offense while playing the three-point line well on both ends. When he's left wide-open on the perimeter this season Manu really has been money which will be huge come playoff time.
Patty Mills - B+
Similarly with Manu, the Spurs simply didn't need Mills to force things tonight with the starters playing so well. Even then, Mills found ways to contribute without scoring with solid playmaking and rebounding especially when considering CoJo was his primary defender. Also didn't get lit up by CoJo on the defensive end.
Jonathon Simmons - B
Simmons was all over the place tonight, with both positive and negative results. He started off his stint passing up open 3-pointers that hurt the offense (and the one he chose to take was a bad shot). On the other hand, his defense on Ross was great and later on in the game he really brought it for the bench after the unit's poor stint in the first half. He has gotten better at not turning it over when he drives into the paint which can only help him draw fouls as his career goes on.
David Lee - B-
Quiet game from Lee for the most part. Since Toronto doesn't play with a lot of true bigs outside JV and Dedmon was having a great game he didn't have any consistent playing time. However, when he was in he played well on the offensive end and had a couple nice defensive sequences on the defensive end as well (though overall he was below average on that end as we've come to expect). Love having two good rebounders on the bench this year as opposed to last year.
Kyle Anderson - B
Barely noticed ol' Fathead on the court tonight, with all his time coming when the game was way out of reach. When I did pay attention to him he was rebounding well and had a couple assists with one headscratching TO. Not too much to take away from his play tonight but I'll be nice.
Dejounte Murray - C+
Real up-and-down game for Murray tonight. He was being guarded by our old friend CoJo most of his playing time, and we all know how difficult he can be on the defensive end. He did have a really nice floater at the end, and his shot looks better than it did in Summer League (though he missed the two he took). His sequence against CoJo at the beginning of his stint really summed up his night: had a bad turnover against CoJo, chased him down and made a great block, only to turn it right over out of bounds once again.
Davis Bertans - A
It was only garbage time, but I liked a lot of what I saw from Big Lat tonight. Had a couple good (one great) block, hit a three, and even sucked in the defense and set up an easy dunk for his teammate. Pop needs to get him back in the rotation, at least for 5-7 mins a game; dude deserves it.
Pop - A-
One of the best games from Pop this season. Didn't play any wonky lineups, had a clear game plan for the team going in, got into the officials/players when needed, and called plays for those who were feeling it and got on whoever was running the show whenever they missed an open man/had a terrible decision. Only complaint were two TOs called when the team could've piled it on in the first half.