Robz4000
02-15-2017, 10:11 PM
The Story:
The Spurs arrived to the Amway Center ready to end a so far helter-skelter first leg of the RRT. The Magic, meanwhile, came into tonight's game off a win against the white-hot Heat but were otherwise playing a forgettable stretch of basketball. In related news, the day before this one notorious Spurs killer Serge "African Can Driver" Abaka was traded from Orlando to Toronto in exchange for Terrence Ross and a 1st. That alone swung this game from a trap game to a snoozer.
The first quarter started off well for the Spurs on both ends, thanks in large part to LMA rediscovering his offense. While swishing jumpers left and right LMA was shutting down drives to the paint on defense and defending Orlando's bigs quite well. Orlando also exacerbated their issues by having numerous stupid turnovers right under the Spurs' basket by stepping out of bounds rushing after rebounds. At the end of the first the Spurs found themselves with a healthy 14-point lead of 30-16.
The second quarter saw Orlando's offense kick itself into gear a bit behind better play by C.J. Watson and Jeff Green. Thankfully for the Spurs, Dedmon and Lee continued the Spurs' dominance on both ends and, alongside Kawhi getting going a bit, blew the Spurs' lead up to 25. Unfortunately, as has been common for the Spurs the past 6 weeks the team allowed Orlando to gain offensive momentum and they ended the half on a 10-2 run. At halftime, the score was 54-37.
In the third quarter Orlando opened up things by continuing to hit their shots. Luckily, so did Kawhi and LMA. After a bit of back-and-forth to start the quarter the Spurs regrew their lead to 20+. Vucevic, Gordon, and a stretch of hot shooting from Orlando kept the Spurs from growing the lead until late in the third, but after they got it within 12 the Spurs' bench, most notably Mills, awoke and regrew the lead to 21 at 85-64. Unfortunately, late in the quarter, Manu did go down with what is being called right ankle impingement so that clouded what should've otherwise been a good night.
The fourth quarter was a glorified scrimmage for the most part, with Murray, Fathead, Bertans, Simmons, and Dedmon getting some significant burn together. Eventually the lead grew to 30 late before the Spurs settled for an easy 107-79 victory.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-As DPG touched on in the game thread, when LMA plays this well on offense the Spurs become nearly unguardable. On top of that, the way he's been playing defensively makes this team frightening when his O is going. Unfortunately it's only happened a few games this season.
-Kawhi continues to play monstrously on both ends. To start the season Kawhi wasn't playing up to par on D and it was noticed by even the most casual of fans (Matt M:lol:lolre). Since late December, however, he's been back to playing elite defense (for the most part). It's prolly too late to snatch DPOY from Raymond, but if he can dominate the Dubs in their two matchups in March anything is possible.
-Green has also low-key gotten back to being an elite defensive player the past few weeks. Touched upon it in my write-up for the Knicks game, and since then he's continued to play great defense. Shot still isn't quite back yet but it's coming along.
-What happened to Bertans' shot? He did hit that nice three at the end of the third quarter, but he bricked the rest of his attempts and quite badly at that. He hasn't been able to hit a three regularly in a month.
-Parker is getting better at throwing lobs, so that's a thing...
-Really not too much to take away from this one. The Magic are a complete dumpster fire and without Abaka there was really no worry that the Spurs would drop this one. They had another end-of-the-half meltdown tonight, which is really becoming a concern, but other than a short spurt in the third Orlando never capitalized.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - A-
Tonight was a ho-hum performance from Kawhi. He didn't shoot the ball particularly great outside the second and the beginning of the third, but his offense was never really needed tonight thanks to LMA beasting. Defensively he was a menace once again, harassing Gordon and Fournier into turnovers (and in Fournier's case completing erasing him from the game in the third). Starting to get some real MVP love from the likes of Zach Lowe, Isaiah Thomas, and Mark Stein surprisingly.
LaMarcus Aldridge - A
LMA was a beast tonight, plain and simple. He had his shot going early while destroying any-and-all Orlando forays into the paint. His play opened everything up for the Spurs and allowed them to put this one away early. Only knock on him was his lack of rebounding, but that can be waved away by his strong boxing out. Great to see him go into the ASB on a high note. Rest up, big fella; Spurs are gonna need this from you after the break.
Danny Green - B+
This was one of Danny's more impressive defensive outings this year. He was seemingly everywhere on defense, whether it was one-on-one, helping, switching, rim protection, or out in transition. He had a terrible drive into the lane in the first half, but was otherwise helpful in keeping the ball moving (but the three TOs cost him an A-). Just needs to rediscover his stroke from long range.
Tony Parker - B+
Tony was a regular maestro on offense tonight, getting Kawhi and LMA the ball in their spots while setting up Green, Dedmon, Lee, and even Fathead at times. He did shoot 2-10, but to be fair he was fouled on several of those shots and just couldn't get a call. On defense he held his own against Payton when he was guarding him but he was often switched onto the likes of Green or Gordon who took advantage of their size to score on him. Best stat of his night: 0 turnovers :tu.
Dewayne Dedmon - A-
Dedmon, similar to LMA, was a monster in the post. Thanks to his own hustle and LMA's previously-mentioned boxing out Dedmon collected a game-high 11 rebounds while scoring an efficient 10 points on the other end. He's starting to make double-double stat lines seem routine for himself (albeit he's only had 3 of them recently, but all in the last 5 games). Really hope the Spurs are able to hold onto him in the offseason.
David Lee - B
Quiet game stat-wise for Lee, but coupled with Dedmon's play these two really helped the bench extend the lead LMA granted the team early on. He was hustling for lose balls, making slick passes, boxing out, and even had a few nice sequences on defense. Hardly played in the second half, but at that point Pop wanted to get more minutes for Fathead/Bertans so he was given extended rest.
Kyle Anderson - A
I'm actually starting to come around on Fathead. It's clear he'll never be a SF on the offensive end, but defensively he can competently guard positions 1-4. He tends to play his best offense at the 4, so hopefully Pop stops trying to force the issue and plays him strategically at PF the rest of the season. As for tonight, most of his play was in garbage time but he did hit a 3 (and more importantly didn't hesitate), had a couple deflections that led to TOs, and rebounded very well.
Manu Ginobili - C+
Wasn't really much for Manu to contribute with the team playing so well. He did make some boneheaded plays on the defensive end but he didn't force the issue at all on either end. Had a nice three that didn't count due to a late pass, but I'll give him a plus for that on top of the 0 turnovers. When Parker and Ginobili combine for no turnovers the Spurs should win those games 10 out of 10 times.
Patty Mills - A
'Atta boy, Patty! Mills had one of his better games in a while on both ends. He was actively moving the ball on offense and his shot selection was great (and he even hit some of them to boot!). Defensively he did get taken advantage of by Payton and Augustine, but for the most part wasn't a liability and even made some great reads to generate turnovers. Like LMA, hopefully we see more of this Mills after the break.
Jonathon Simmons - B-
Definitely brought some energy tonight, albeit so did the SL so his juice wasn't needed. Didn't shoot particularly well and hesitated when he got into the paint, but he rebounded well and his defense on D.J. Augustine/Payton was solid. Hope he rediscovers his three point stroke at some point so he can play reliably if Manu misses time or isn't quite right after this ankle injury.
Davis Bertans - C-
Not the Latvian's best game tonight. Dude couldn't hit a shot to save his life and got taken advantage of on the defensive end numerous times by Biyombo of all players. Played the passing lanes well-enough though and he did take the shots he was supposed to take while not forcing the issue. No rebounds in 16 minutes is unforgivable, however.
Dejounte Murray - B-
Not too impressed with what I saw offensively outside a nice floater, but his defense and rebounding was nice to see. Reminds me a lot of Green out in transition, albeit his instincts aren't on Green's level. Hoping he gets more PT after the break but knowing Pop I won't hold my breath.
Joel Anthony - C
Never even noticed he was in the game until I saw the box score tbh. That means he didn't do anything of note, good or bad. Average outing for the team's 15th man.
Pop - A
Literally nothing to nitpick tonight with Pop outside another let-down at the end of the first half. His rotations were solid, he called good timeouts, and clearly let the team know not to sleepwalk through this one. Managed to buy Kawhi and LMA some rest tonight while not letting the team be in danger of losing this one. Was also content to ride the hot hand in LMA for once.
The Spurs arrived to the Amway Center ready to end a so far helter-skelter first leg of the RRT. The Magic, meanwhile, came into tonight's game off a win against the white-hot Heat but were otherwise playing a forgettable stretch of basketball. In related news, the day before this one notorious Spurs killer Serge "African Can Driver" Abaka was traded from Orlando to Toronto in exchange for Terrence Ross and a 1st. That alone swung this game from a trap game to a snoozer.
The first quarter started off well for the Spurs on both ends, thanks in large part to LMA rediscovering his offense. While swishing jumpers left and right LMA was shutting down drives to the paint on defense and defending Orlando's bigs quite well. Orlando also exacerbated their issues by having numerous stupid turnovers right under the Spurs' basket by stepping out of bounds rushing after rebounds. At the end of the first the Spurs found themselves with a healthy 14-point lead of 30-16.
The second quarter saw Orlando's offense kick itself into gear a bit behind better play by C.J. Watson and Jeff Green. Thankfully for the Spurs, Dedmon and Lee continued the Spurs' dominance on both ends and, alongside Kawhi getting going a bit, blew the Spurs' lead up to 25. Unfortunately, as has been common for the Spurs the past 6 weeks the team allowed Orlando to gain offensive momentum and they ended the half on a 10-2 run. At halftime, the score was 54-37.
In the third quarter Orlando opened up things by continuing to hit their shots. Luckily, so did Kawhi and LMA. After a bit of back-and-forth to start the quarter the Spurs regrew their lead to 20+. Vucevic, Gordon, and a stretch of hot shooting from Orlando kept the Spurs from growing the lead until late in the third, but after they got it within 12 the Spurs' bench, most notably Mills, awoke and regrew the lead to 21 at 85-64. Unfortunately, late in the quarter, Manu did go down with what is being called right ankle impingement so that clouded what should've otherwise been a good night.
The fourth quarter was a glorified scrimmage for the most part, with Murray, Fathead, Bertans, Simmons, and Dedmon getting some significant burn together. Eventually the lead grew to 30 late before the Spurs settled for an easy 107-79 victory.
Some things I noticed during the game:
-As DPG touched on in the game thread, when LMA plays this well on offense the Spurs become nearly unguardable. On top of that, the way he's been playing defensively makes this team frightening when his O is going. Unfortunately it's only happened a few games this season.
-Kawhi continues to play monstrously on both ends. To start the season Kawhi wasn't playing up to par on D and it was noticed by even the most casual of fans (Matt M:lol:lolre). Since late December, however, he's been back to playing elite defense (for the most part). It's prolly too late to snatch DPOY from Raymond, but if he can dominate the Dubs in their two matchups in March anything is possible.
-Green has also low-key gotten back to being an elite defensive player the past few weeks. Touched upon it in my write-up for the Knicks game, and since then he's continued to play great defense. Shot still isn't quite back yet but it's coming along.
-What happened to Bertans' shot? He did hit that nice three at the end of the third quarter, but he bricked the rest of his attempts and quite badly at that. He hasn't been able to hit a three regularly in a month.
-Parker is getting better at throwing lobs, so that's a thing...
-Really not too much to take away from this one. The Magic are a complete dumpster fire and without Abaka there was really no worry that the Spurs would drop this one. They had another end-of-the-half meltdown tonight, which is really becoming a concern, but other than a short spurt in the third Orlando never capitalized.
Grades:
Kawhi Leonard - A-
Tonight was a ho-hum performance from Kawhi. He didn't shoot the ball particularly great outside the second and the beginning of the third, but his offense was never really needed tonight thanks to LMA beasting. Defensively he was a menace once again, harassing Gordon and Fournier into turnovers (and in Fournier's case completing erasing him from the game in the third). Starting to get some real MVP love from the likes of Zach Lowe, Isaiah Thomas, and Mark Stein surprisingly.
LaMarcus Aldridge - A
LMA was a beast tonight, plain and simple. He had his shot going early while destroying any-and-all Orlando forays into the paint. His play opened everything up for the Spurs and allowed them to put this one away early. Only knock on him was his lack of rebounding, but that can be waved away by his strong boxing out. Great to see him go into the ASB on a high note. Rest up, big fella; Spurs are gonna need this from you after the break.
Danny Green - B+
This was one of Danny's more impressive defensive outings this year. He was seemingly everywhere on defense, whether it was one-on-one, helping, switching, rim protection, or out in transition. He had a terrible drive into the lane in the first half, but was otherwise helpful in keeping the ball moving (but the three TOs cost him an A-). Just needs to rediscover his stroke from long range.
Tony Parker - B+
Tony was a regular maestro on offense tonight, getting Kawhi and LMA the ball in their spots while setting up Green, Dedmon, Lee, and even Fathead at times. He did shoot 2-10, but to be fair he was fouled on several of those shots and just couldn't get a call. On defense he held his own against Payton when he was guarding him but he was often switched onto the likes of Green or Gordon who took advantage of their size to score on him. Best stat of his night: 0 turnovers :tu.
Dewayne Dedmon - A-
Dedmon, similar to LMA, was a monster in the post. Thanks to his own hustle and LMA's previously-mentioned boxing out Dedmon collected a game-high 11 rebounds while scoring an efficient 10 points on the other end. He's starting to make double-double stat lines seem routine for himself (albeit he's only had 3 of them recently, but all in the last 5 games). Really hope the Spurs are able to hold onto him in the offseason.
David Lee - B
Quiet game stat-wise for Lee, but coupled with Dedmon's play these two really helped the bench extend the lead LMA granted the team early on. He was hustling for lose balls, making slick passes, boxing out, and even had a few nice sequences on defense. Hardly played in the second half, but at that point Pop wanted to get more minutes for Fathead/Bertans so he was given extended rest.
Kyle Anderson - A
I'm actually starting to come around on Fathead. It's clear he'll never be a SF on the offensive end, but defensively he can competently guard positions 1-4. He tends to play his best offense at the 4, so hopefully Pop stops trying to force the issue and plays him strategically at PF the rest of the season. As for tonight, most of his play was in garbage time but he did hit a 3 (and more importantly didn't hesitate), had a couple deflections that led to TOs, and rebounded very well.
Manu Ginobili - C+
Wasn't really much for Manu to contribute with the team playing so well. He did make some boneheaded plays on the defensive end but he didn't force the issue at all on either end. Had a nice three that didn't count due to a late pass, but I'll give him a plus for that on top of the 0 turnovers. When Parker and Ginobili combine for no turnovers the Spurs should win those games 10 out of 10 times.
Patty Mills - A
'Atta boy, Patty! Mills had one of his better games in a while on both ends. He was actively moving the ball on offense and his shot selection was great (and he even hit some of them to boot!). Defensively he did get taken advantage of by Payton and Augustine, but for the most part wasn't a liability and even made some great reads to generate turnovers. Like LMA, hopefully we see more of this Mills after the break.
Jonathon Simmons - B-
Definitely brought some energy tonight, albeit so did the SL so his juice wasn't needed. Didn't shoot particularly well and hesitated when he got into the paint, but he rebounded well and his defense on D.J. Augustine/Payton was solid. Hope he rediscovers his three point stroke at some point so he can play reliably if Manu misses time or isn't quite right after this ankle injury.
Davis Bertans - C-
Not the Latvian's best game tonight. Dude couldn't hit a shot to save his life and got taken advantage of on the defensive end numerous times by Biyombo of all players. Played the passing lanes well-enough though and he did take the shots he was supposed to take while not forcing the issue. No rebounds in 16 minutes is unforgivable, however.
Dejounte Murray - B-
Not too impressed with what I saw offensively outside a nice floater, but his defense and rebounding was nice to see. Reminds me a lot of Green out in transition, albeit his instincts aren't on Green's level. Hoping he gets more PT after the break but knowing Pop I won't hold my breath.
Joel Anthony - C
Never even noticed he was in the game until I saw the box score tbh. That means he didn't do anything of note, good or bad. Average outing for the team's 15th man.
Pop - A
Literally nothing to nitpick tonight with Pop outside another let-down at the end of the first half. His rotations were solid, he called good timeouts, and clearly let the team know not to sleepwalk through this one. Managed to buy Kawhi and LMA some rest tonight while not letting the team be in danger of losing this one. Was also content to ride the hot hand in LMA for once.