Game Thread (40/82): Spurs @ Mexico City Suns (5:00 CT/ESPN) sponsored by The Cartel

[BillMc]

Let the cliff jumpers jump, going to bed, closing in on 4 AM here.

[bklynspursfan]

Warriors got Cavs, Rocket, and OKC this week. Sucks we couldn't pull this out, but w/e. Not the end of the world. Obviously gassed, so meh.

[RD2191]

Lol, you're a Kawhi dick sucking fag. Open your eyes or are they sealed shut with Kawhi's splooge?

Crofl. Let's blame the guy who scored 38 pts on 60% shooting and the only reason we were even in the game. Go fuck your mother.

[bklynspursfan]

You don't seriously believe that this team will lose to OKC, Memphis, or Houston? This team is still WCF bound barring injury or bad seeding.

Easily. The cliff jumping here is comical tbh

[sasaint]

Spurs didn't respect their opponents this game. Good game from Gino and Kawhi but LMA was pedestrian. Pau was awful and the turnovers sucked. Dedmon should've gotten more minutes with the Suns face raping the Spurs on the boards. Ugh.

Exactly!

[SAGirl]

Basically Pops second half coaching was bad and several guys didn't play well.

[BillMc]

Lee didn't bring anything this particular game... Davis didn't play well in the 1st had but neither did a few others.. again Pop going down with his old vet crew.

Play well in the first? Davis was in for 1 play before he mysteriously got subbed out for Dedmon. Maybe you saw something I didn't. :lol

[sasaint]

Lee didn't bring anything this particular game... Davis didn't play well in the 1st had but neither did a few others.. again Pop going down with his old vet crew.

How long was Davis even in the game? Hardly long enough to catch his breath at that altitude.

[MI21]

What was Pop thinking with the last play?

Unless that is a pass to Pau who touch passes it back out to Manu, they were always going to foul him as his back was to the basket as he isn't a threat to be shooting in that spot, smh

[TimDunkem]

"Davis didn't play well in his whole 3 minutes!"

[spursgu]

You don't seriously believe that this team will lose to OKC, Memphis, or Houston? This team is still WCF bound barring injury or bad seeding.

It's the chickenshit way of rooting for the Spurs and for fans who can't handle adversity. Either they can claim they were right for calling out the team's weakness or they can pretend they were doing the reverse jinx if the team proves them wrong. amusedgaysleeper is one of the biggest examples of this.

[daslicer]

Warriors got Cavs, Rocket, and OKC this week. Sucks we couldn't pull this out, but w/e. Not the end of the world. Obviously gassed, so meh.

Even before this loss I didn't think the Spurs were going to catch the Warriors in the standings. The Warriors are trying to win as many games are possible. I can see them winning somewhere between 64-69 games. Spurs will win around 60-63.

[John Petrucci]

Starting to lose all the close ones we were winning before. Who didn't see us coming back down to Earth in the clutch? Now this feels like the Spurs we know

Victims of yet another career performance by someone on a shit team.

[spursgu]

It wasn't 6 mins of Aldridge posting up. But it was important he get going. Only Kawhi had it going, why not try and get your other big gun going? LMA struggled, so let's blame Pop -_-

Also, slowing the game down was needed bit with the altitude. Idk why people don't realize this.

The altitude was definitely a factor and even so, Spurs nearly ran away with this game they didn't deserve to win according to cliffjumpers on here. This is probably Devin Booker's highlight week of the season too, so of course the Suns will play over their heads.

[SAGirl]

How long was Davis even in the game? Hardly long enough to catch his breath at that altitude.
Just 4 minutes...

[Xylus]

Sweet, we won!

[DarrinS]

Booker had a great game. I don't know why they waited so long to put Kawhi on him. Even when they did, Parker switched onto him a couple of times, which makes zero sense.

[BillMc]

It's the chickenshit way of rooting for the Spurs and for fans who can't handle adversity. Either they can claim they were right for calling out the team's weakness or they can pretend they were doing the reverse jinx if the team proves them wrong. amusedgaysleeper is one of the biggest examples of this.
+1

[sasaint]

Just 4 minutes...

I admit that is longer than it seemed.

[spursgu]

:lol Just look at this threads in this forum after losses. Good grief, every player gets thrown under the bus sans Kawhi. Maybe I should look for a "Softdridge" thread to bump.

[SAGirl]

I admit that is longer than it seemed.
To be fair r to Pop he's probably in a short leash and his minutes were out of control... got blocked at the rim making a bad decision in transition a TO.. and the group was careless... (some of Manu careless passing?) just didn't play well but it was a short stint and well guys have a shorter leash and others don't.... until he's earned a rotation spot he's in a short leash I think.

[SAGirl]

:lol Just look at this threads in this forum after losses. Good grief, every player gets thrown under the bus sans Kawhi. Maybe I should look for a "Softdridge" thread to bump.
It's funny TBH lol

[Robz4000]

You don't seriously believe that this team will lose to OKC, Memphis, or Houston? This team is still WCF bound barring injury or bad seeding.

Memphis, no, but OKC, Houston, LAC, and Utah can all beat the Spurs in a series. Been saying it since November.

[bklynspursfan]

Sweet, we won!

Congrats.. Big win for you guys, i'm sure the fans enjoyed it

[BillMc]

Memphis, no, but OKC, Houston, LAC, and Utah can all beat the Spurs in a series. Been saying it since November.
"Can" is not the same as "will." Odds of them losing in the first round are small. LAC would have the best shot but Spurs would still be favored.

[G-Dawgg]

Crofl. Let's blame the guy who scored 38 pts on 60% shooting and the only reason we were even in the game. Go fuck your mother.

Lol 38 poInts and he still choked from the freethrow line with the game on the line, 38 point effort wasted. The team still lost. Go suck your dad off....

[ElNono]

Memphis, no, but OKC, Houston, LAC, and Utah can all beat the Spurs in a series. Been saying it since November.

Jazz are overrated, tbh... Love Georgie and all, but no way, IMO. LAC does seem to have our number tho

[RD2191]

Lol 38 poInts and still choked from the freethrow line with the game on the line....38 point effort wasted. The team still lost. Go suck your dad off....

Hit 2-3 on a night where the defense was shit. No guarantee him tying it even matters. But then again, he's the only reason we were even in the game in the 1st place.

[rasuo214]

Pop waiting until the end of the 4th to put Kawhi on Booker, great coaching...

[G-Dawgg]

Hit 2-3 on a night where the defense was shit. No guarantee him tying it even matters. But then again, he's the only reason we were even in the game in the 1st place.You're a loser dude. Learn something about basketball. Nobody is above criticism. Even your holy hero favorite Kawhi Leonard. He scored 38 points, but missed a key freethrow, and the team LOST. Period. His 38 point effort resulted in an L. And in all honesty, I've noticed a trend of him missing key freethrows at the end of games.

[Kawhitstorm]

GM Kawhitstorm (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=49655):lol

#Game:

820434041992282116

[LakerHater]

Rebounds!

Tyson had 15
Leonard, Gasol & Aldridge= 14

[sasaint]

Pop waiting until the end of the 4th to put Kawhi on Booker, great coaching...

Just one more great chess move by a HOF coach.

[rasuo214]

Also how was that a goaltend in the 4th? Did anyone get a better replay on that?

[sasaint]

Rebounds!

Tyson had 15
Leonard, Gasol & Aldridge= 14

And how many boards for Deadman in how many minutes? Seems to me that Deadman is the perfect matchup against Chandler. Where was he?

[cd021]

Memphis, no, but OKC, Houston, LAC, and Utah can all beat the Spurs in a series. Been saying it since November.

OKC? Not a chance. Terrible 3pt shooting and FT shooting team. Three of their starters are net negative players (Sabonis, Roberson and Olidipo). Leonard being able to play off Roberson while Green checks Westbrook, I expect him to have to go hero ball to try and beat us but I highly doubt it.

I'm comfortable with the Spurs playing the Rockets, Green and Leonard's defense on Harden has been solid despite him averaging 27/11/11 vs us.
Harden stats vs the Spurs- 21.0 FGA PG, .413 FG%, 8.3 3PA, .160 3pt %, 26.7 ppg, 11 apg, 6 T.O's per game.
His points per shot drops from 1.53 to 1.27
Utah can't seem to stay healthy, either.
If the seeding plays out like this;
GSW
SAS
HOU
LAC
Utah
Mem
OKC
Portland

the Spurs would avoid LAC and be slotted to play Memphis or Houston in the second round. That's a great route to us making the WCF.

[Robz4000]

OKC? Not a chance. Terrible 3pt shooting and FT shooting team. Three of their starters are net negative players (Sabonis, Roberson and Olidipo). Leonard being able to play off Roberson while Green checks Westbrook, I expect him to have to go hero ball to try and beat us but I highly doubt it.

I'm comfortable with the Spurs playing the Rockets, Green and Leonard's defense on Harden has been solid despite him averaging 27/11/11 vs us.
Harden stats vs the Spurs- 21.0 FGA PG, .413 FG%, 8.3 3PA, .160 3pt %, 26.7 ppg, 11 apg, 6 T.O's per game.
His points per shot drops from 1.53 to 1.27
Utah can't seem to stay healthy, either.
If the seeding plays out like this;
GSW
SAS
HOU
LAC
Utah
Mem
OKC
Portland

the Spurs would avoid LAC and be slotted to play Memphis or Houston in the second round. That's a great route to us making the WCF.

Roberson has given Leonard plenty of trouble the past two years in the OKC matchup, and on top of that the Adams/Kanter frontline can give LMA/Gasol plenty of trouble on both ends, especially if they both play soft. Green has also shown no ability to guard athletic players this whole season; on top of that he's been guardable on offense the past two years with the shift in the offense towards LMA. OKC also now has Victor Oladipo who the Spurs have had trouble guarding his whole career. Sabonis is a wild card, but his ability to stretch the floor and playmaking could be a big problem.

As for Houston, it shouldn't take much to fathom them beating the Spurs considering how close every game has been this year. Imho, Spurs would win in 6-7 but I could see Houston winning as well. Their style of offense has historically given the Spurs fits.

Utah, if healthy, would prove to be the biggest problem since (when healthy) they're on par with GS/SA/CLE/HOU metrically.

[cd021]

Roberson has given Leonard plenty of trouble the past two years in the OKC matchup, and on top of that the Adams/Kanter frontline can give LMA/Gasol plenty of trouble on both ends, especially if they both play soft. Green has also shown no ability to guard athletic players this whole season; on top of that he's been guardable on offense the past two years with the shift in the offense towards LMA. OKC also now has Victor Oladipo who the Spurs have had trouble guarding his whole career. Sabonis is a wild card, but his ability to stretch the floor and playmaking could be a big problem.

As for Houston, it shouldn't take much to fathom them beating the Spurs considering how close every game has been this year. Imho, Spurs would win in 6-7 but I could see Houston winning as well. Their style of offense has historically given the Spurs fits.

Utah, if healthy, would prove to be the biggest problem since (when healthy) they're on par with GS/SA/CLE/HOU metrically.

Leoanrd stats vs OKC in the PS- 48.6% FG, 23.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.5 rpg
He didn't shoot that well from 3pt and shot about 14% worse from the FT line but had a solid series.
Roberson had a negative net rtg (-13) while Westbrook had a -2 while shooting 37.5% from FG.

Green had at least some impact in that series on defense and Roberson's shooting is so poor that it negates a lot of his impact on defense. Its like Tony Allen, in 2014 he played terrific defense on Durant during their 7 game series but was only a net 0 player because of how horrid he is on offense.

Sabonis can stretch but so can both of our starters, both of whom are better shooters from 3 (granted in fewer attempts). Our backup bigs were put together after what happened to us last season, both Lee and Dedmon are significantly better on the glass while OKC isn't nearly as dominant as they were last year without Ibaka and Durant playing with Kantor, Roberson and Adam.

It can't be understated how poor of shooting team they are.
32.5 % 3pt, 73.6% FT is means that they rank 29th and 27th
They are a good rebounding team but with KD and Ibaka they flat out can't shoot from 3. I could see Leonard even guarding Oladipo to take away their best 3pt threat and second scoring option, which would put more pressure on on Westbrook to score. He's already taking taking 23.8 FGA per game. His per 40 minute shooting rate is 27.5 (how many shots he would take if he were to play 40 mpg). If he were to take 28 shots per game in a series vs the Spurs, it would stand to reason that his already poor shooting percentages would drop (42% from the field and 32% from 3pt) do to the amount of minutes and chucking. He may average 30 ppg but it would be almost Allen Iverson esqe.
I'd be surprised if it took more than 5 games to get the win.

Houston does play the Spurs close but Harden tends to be less effective in the PS and that doesn't account for wingstop. It'll be a close series but i'd expect the Spurs to win in 6.
I'm not entirely convinced that a healthy Memphis team couldn't beat Houston, they may even angle to play them if they wind up as the 3rd seed so the can play Houston in the 1st round and avoid Golden State until the conference Finals. It would mean that they play the Spurs who have absolutely dominated them since getting Kawhi but it's a thought.

Utah may never be quite healthy. They may be a tough team if they are but they also may never end up playing us in the playoffs.