Best of...2016-17 Spurs Season

[TDomination]

Now that we are about to conclude our first regular season without Timmy in what feels like ages, i chose some of the 'Best Of' games this season based on my own opinions. If anybody would like to add their own best of please do so.

BEST OF…2016-17 Regular Season Spurs
Now I’m not that good with detailed information so I won’t post any Best of Individual plays because I’m sure there are many that I missed. So I will stick with Best of Entire Games.


BEST FINISH
Spurs 112 vs Rockets 110 – 3/6/17

Reason: Because Kawhi absolutely went beast mode. After this game is where his MVP talks took off. The 3-pointer with under 30 secs to give the Spurs the lead and to follow it up with a block on fellow MVP candidate James Harden was a thing of beauty. Not to mention the plays Kawhi kept making to keep the Spurs in the game. Finished with 39pts.

Honorable Mention(s):
-Spurs 95 vs Grizzlies 89 F/OT – 4/4/17
-Spurs 100 @ Thunder 95 – 3/31/17
-Spurs 97 @ Bucks 96 – 12/5/16


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AECuWJBq2CU&feature=youtu.be


BEST COMEBACK (TIED)
Spurs 114 vs Kings 104 – 3/8/17

Reason: Spurs were once down 27pts in the 2nd quarter and managed to win by double digits. Granted it was against a bad Kings and they should have never been down that much but it was still a big turnaround. It seems that the way the game is played now a days allows for these kinds of deficits to be erased quickly. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVPqoPOPNvY&feature=youtu.be

Spurs 100 @ Thunder 95 – 3/31/17

Reason: After blowing a 22 pt lead the game before to the Warriors, the Spurs found themselves in a 19pt hole on the road to the Thunder who always seem to give the Spurs problems. Although it was not as big of a deficit as the Kings game, this comeback was much more impressive due to the level of competition and being on the road. Spurs dug deep, chipped away and found a way to win. It was a great effort on the Spurs part. This game and the Kings game epitomizes this season for the spurs. For moments they play like d-leaguers and for other moments in the same game play like legit championship contenders. I expect to see some of this inconsistency in the playoffs unfortunately.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJyBa-8wMoA&feature=youtu.be

[Brazil]

nice thread tbh

[TDomination]

sorry about the links, will get them fixed soon. Work computer is giving me problems....nevermind, it only allows me 3 videos in a post.

BEST INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE
Kawhi Leonard - 41 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST
Spurs 118 @ Cavs 115 F/OT – 1/21/17

Reason: For starters, Kawhi set a new career high in points with his 41. On ABC, Saturday Night Primetime, on the road, against the defending champs Kawhi took it to another level. This game is a reason why Spurs fans have hope in the playoffs. The higher the stakes, the better Kawhi performs. It’s not always the case but overall this is why he is considered a top 3 MVP candidate. It helped that Murray had a pretty good game as well, but this is not the first time Kawhi takes it to another level in a big game. Obviously having Finals experience and being a former NBA Finals MVP helps. Although I will put an asterisk on this one because the Cavs did not have Bogut or DWill yet. -_-


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7SFsDhhZ54

[TDomination]

BEST NO NONSENSE GAME
Spurs 134 vs Lakers 94 – 1/12/17

Reason: Spurs had no reason to lose to the Lakers. They didn’t. Spurs had every reason to make this a boring game by blowing them out. They did. These games happened more often last year and it seemed to hurt us according to some. But every once in a while a game like this is good for rest and to see the bench come in and play. Spurs did what they were supposed to do and beat a team they were supposed to beat. Also, this was the Spurs highest point total for the year and largest margin of victory for the year at 40pts.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2gBpe0oZkA&feature=youtu.be

[TDomination]

BEST LOST OF THE YEAR
Spurs 98 vs Warriors 110 - 3/31/17

Reason: This game brought the Spurs and Spursfans way back down to earth after a 29pt win against the Cavs 2 night earlier. Especially after that first quarter, we were all on cloud 9. Then reality set in and Spurs lost a 22 pt lead at home and lost to the Warriors for the first time this year. Spurs may end up losing in the first round. But if the Spurs find a way to get to the WCF and play the Warriors, this game will be a good game to look back at and see what they need to do different. How did they gain that big lead, why were they unable to hold it? Was it energy or the lack thereof? Was it something as simple as they made shots and the Warriors didn’t and then the roles reversed? Could the Warriors just be unbeatable? I truly believe the spurs can beat them and in an odd way I’m glad we lost that one, only because going into the playoffs having swept the warriors in the Regular Season would give the Warriors that much more fuel to want to show up the Spurs. But again we’ll see if the Spurs can get past RD 1.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRXm0LnZCK4&feature=youtu.be

[TDomination]

BEST OVERALL GAME
Spurs 129 @ Warriors 100 – 10/25/16

Reason: With so much anticipation of the New Super Warriors Team, it was nice for a team who just lost the Greatest PF of All Time to go into their home and completely embarrass them in front of their home crowd. It also showed that the Spurs are not going away anytime soon. Completely unexpected in my opinion. And because I felt so much satisfaction from this game even though it was Game 1 of 82, it goes as my #1.
And this quote by TD21 summarized how a lot of Spurstalk fans were feeling based on their post that night in the game thread. “Most impressive, unexpected and enjoyable Spurs performance since the ’14 Finals”

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263980&page=64&p=8766075&viewfull=1#post8766075


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrifz7glk14&feature=youtu.be

Honorable Mention:
Spurs 118 @ Cavs 115 F/OT – 1/21/17

[Russ]

BEST LOST OF THE YEAR
Spurs 98 vs Warriors 110 - 3/31/17

Reason: This game brought the Spurs and Spursfans way back down to earth after a 29pt win against the Cavs 2 night earlier. Especially after that first quarter, we were all on cloud 9. Then reality set in and Spurs lost a 22 pt lead at home and lost to the Warriors for the first time this year. Spurs may end up losing in the first round. But if the Spurs find a way to get to the WCF and play the Warriors, this game will be a good game to look back at and see what they need to do different. How did they gain that big lead, why were they unable to hold it? Was it energy or the lack thereof? Was it something as simple as they made shots and the Warriors didn’t and then the roles reversed? Could the Warriors just be unbeatable? I truly believe the spurs can beat them and in an odd way I’m glad we lost that one, only because going into the playoffs having swept the warriors in the Regular Season would give the Warriors that much more fuel to want to show up the Spurs. But again we’ll see if the Spurs can get past RD 1.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRXm0LnZCK4&feature=youtu.be

Simmons and Bertans were held out of that loss (playing 1 minute each).

This looks like gamesmanship by Pop -- Simmons was the difference in the opening day win over GS, scoring 20 and generally wreaking havoc with his athleticism. Bertans is the kind of stretch big that gives the Warriors problems.

GS hit 50% of their threes (13-26) and 100% of their free throws in their win over the Spurs. They hit four more threes than the Spurs, equaling the 12 point margin of victory.

Spurs-Warriors will be a great chess match if it happens.

[TheDoctor]

Love this thread. Thanks for taking your time :tu

[hater]

Best chokejob:
Up 22 vs Durantless worriers

[daledondale]

Fantastic thread.

Biggest meltdown of the year?, losing against who?.

:wakeup

[TDomination]

Fantastic thread.

Biggest meltdown of the year?, losing against who?.

:wakeup

BIGGEST MELTDOWN OF THE YEAR
Gregg Popovich
Spurs 118 vs Nuggets 114 - 1/17/17

Reason: Pop goes off on the refs. Gregg Popovich, usually on purpose, decides to get himself thrown out in a classic meltdown towards the Refs. This one features Emmanuel Mudiay of the Nuggets helping the refs kicking Pop out. You can also hear Pop say "You're a terrible referee"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqBg7i8hNpE

[Phenomanul]

Best grind-it-out win of the year was probably the last second win over the Pacers at home...

Nothing was going right... nothing...

Spurs dug deep... hunkered down defensively... and then Kawhi hit a game winner over Paul George.

[SAGirl]

Nice thread. Thanks!

[UZER]

Best Sticking Up for Teammates game:

On the road against Milwaukee. It cost Bertans the next 15 games. :lol

That was actually the most fun I had watching a game this season.

The Kawhi v Houston game was the best moment of the season and left me speechless.

[r0drig0lac]

BIGGEST MELTDOWN OF THE YEAR
Gregg Popovich
Spurs 118 vs Nuggets 114 - 1/17/17

Reason: Pop goes off on the refs. Gregg Popovich, usually on purpose, decides to get himself thrown out in a classic meltdown towards the Refs. This one features Emmanuel Mudiay of the Nuggets helping the refs kicking Pop out. You can also hear Pop say "You're a terrible referee"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqBg7i8hNpE

haha mudiay

[TDomination]

Best grind-it-out win of the year was probably the last second win over the Pacers at home...

Nothing was going right... nothing...

Spurs dug deep... hunkered down defensively... and then Kawhi hit a game winner over Paul George.

Thats definitely a good game to mention. :toast

BEST GRIND-IT-OUT GAME
Spurs 100 vs Pacers 99 - 3/1/17

Reason: This was a game where Kawhi (31pts) essentially had to put the team on his back and find a way to get a win which included hitting the game winner with 2.4 secs left. The starters outside of Kawhi totaled only 19 pts. We probably should have lost this game but Spurs hung in there and made the necessary plays to get the W. Lee (18pts) had one of his best games, which i found to be very Boris like. Also, It didn't hurt that Ellis missed 2 crucial ft's at the end of the game. But that makes up for that B.S. 3-pointer that they banked in. Still, a good win for the Spurs.

<em>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpEVEFYiW5s

[Arcadian]

Nice. It's been a great season! The Spurs played their best against the best competition. And Kawhi had great performances against the best players in the league.

[rjv]

Best Poster Moment:

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/60/35/12/12702361/3/920x920.jpg

[YGWHI]

What a job!! I appreciate so much you taking the time to make this thread.

I know, people say only playoffs matter but since I think this year is just a transition season I dont have high expectations about May/June. That's why I find 61 wins with 7 new players, no-Tim Duncan anymore, likely last Manu's season...a very successful season.

I enjoyed every game and it was nice to re-watch all those great Spurs moments again.

[TDomination]

What a job!! I appreciate so much you taking the time to make this thread.

I know, people say only playoffs matter but since I think this year is just a transition season I dont have high expectations about May/June. That's why I find 61 wins with 7 new players, no-Tim Duncan anymore, likely last Manu's season...a very successful season.

I enjoyed every game and it was nice to re-watch all those great Spurs moments again.

:toast

[Slippy]

Best Poster Moment:

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/60/35/12/12702361/3/920x920.jpg

Best dunk by a spur this season.

Also Kawai imo had his best dunk as a spur when he had extra elevation over some guy i cant remmember. Reminded me of a poster dunk sean elliott once had over vlade divac where he had extra lift on the jump after hitting divacs body.