Slowly but surely, the defense seems to be returning. On Tuesday night, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Indiana Pacers by a final score of 99-81. In surrendering only 81 points, the Spurs were able to hold the Pacers to more than 23 points below their season average.
After playing a relatively close first quarter, the Spurs blew the game open in the middle two periods - outscoring the Pacers 61-40. By the start of the fourth, the game was all but over.
To Indiana’s credit, they obviously didn’t have their usual zip. Losing the previous night in a heartbreaker against the New Orleans Hornets likely drained most of their energy. Although that’s not much of an excuse considering that the Spurs were playing their fourth game in five nights.
San Antonio needed an easy victory after the rash of close games in recent weeks. Utilizing sound defense and an aggressive offense, the Spurs were able to get just that. At the halfway point in the season, the 28-13 record is definitely a success – all things considered.
Tim Duncan
27 minutes, 27 points, ten rebounds, two steals, three turnovers
10-for-15 from the field, 7-for-8 from the line
Tim Duncan wasn’t messing around on this night. Ignoring any type of fatigue, Duncan came out of the gates blazing. In his first 11 minutes, Duncan had 12 points and nine rebounds. Offensively, he fought for good position and overwhelmed his defenders with an array of shots. On defense, Duncan remained active and played some of his best pick-and-roll defense of the season. Although the compe ion wasn’t the greatest, it was good to see Duncan have an offensive explosion. His 27 points were the most he’s scored in January, which is even more impressive considering he only played 27 minutes.
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Manu Ginobili
21 minutes, 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block, two turnovers
8-for-10 from the field, 4-for-4 on three-pointers, 6-for-7 at the line
Speaking of explosion, Manu Ginobili was amazing. In a page of out last season’s bestseller, Ginobili single-handedly destroyed the Pacers. Playing with infinite energy and supreme confidence, he was dominant in just about every phase of the game. His scoring was great to see – especially his perfect shooting from beyond the arc. He also attacked the rim and either scored, drew contact or handed out assists virtually every time. Overall, this was easily Ginobili’s most statistically dominant game of the season and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.
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Tony Parker
26 minutes, 13 points, seven assists, two steals
6-for-15 from the field
Though he had his second consecutive poor shooting game, Tony Parker ran the show well, finishing with seven assists and one turnover. Over his last two games, Parker now has 17 assists and only two turnovers. Defensively, Parker is starting to pick up his level of play. He defended well on the ball and played the passing lanes a few times. The Spurs will need his scoring to get back on track to beat the better teams but it’s a good sign that he’s performing well in other areas even if his shot is off.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
23 minutes, six points, six rebounds
3-for-9 from the field
After a couple poor defensive outings, Roger Mason, Jr. stepped it up on that end of the court. He was much more attentive and crisply fought around screens. Mason also rebounded extremely well. Offensively, he missed a few open shots and rushed a couple of others. In the four games since his game-winner against the Lakers, Mason is averaging only 7.5 points per game on 32.4% from the field and 28.6% from three-point land.
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Michael Finley
19 minutes, three points, four rebounds
1-for-3 from the field, 1-for-3 on three-pointers
Michael Finley has shown flashes of much better defense this season and Tuesday night his improved defense was again on display. He did a very good job against Danny Granger and played a key role in snapping Granger’s NBA-best streak of 16 straight games with at least 20 points. Finley’s own offense is still cold but his defense was the most notable aspect of his game.
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Matt Bonner
18 minutes, two points, seven rebounds, one block
1-for-4 from the field, 0-for-2 on three-pointers
For the third straight game, Matt Bonner did fantastic work on the boards. He’s being much more physical and determined on the glass and it’s paying off. Bonner didn’t do much offensively but his defense was improved – both on the block and out on the perimeter.
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Bruce Bowen
26 minutes, four points, five rebounds
2-for-3 from the field
Outside of Finley, Bruce Bowen deserves the most credit for helping to limit Granger to only 17 points. He played pestering defense and was extra physical when in the painted area. His five rebounds were as many as he’s had in the last five games combined. On the offensive end, he had the highlight of the night when he gave Granger a killer crossover and a jumper. Somewhere, Tim Hardaway had to be blushing – in the most heterosexual way possible, of course.
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George Hill
22 minutes, seven points, three assists, two blocks, three turnovers
2-for-5 from the field, 3-for-4 at the line
George Hill had a productive all-around outing. Defensively, he was a pest and contested a number of shots. He even blocked a pair. On offense, he stayed aggressive with both his own shot and in terms of looking for others. Hill did tie a season-high with three turnovers but as long as he’s being aggressive, Pop will live with those miscues.
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Ime Udoka
18 minutes, seven points, five rebounds, two assists
3-for-8 from the field, 1-for-3 on three-pointers
Stop me when you’ve heard this before. Ime Udoka checks into the game, stinks up the joint and then eventually finds his groove and plays decently well. That happened once against versus the Pacers. He missed his first five shots from the field before settling down and connecting on his final three attempts. Udoka simply can’t be a good spot player if it takes him a while to thaw out each time he hits the floor.
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Kurt Thomas
17 minutes, four points, three rebounds, three assists
1-for-6 from the field
Considering that he was shooting 70.8% in his last six games, Kurt Thomas was due for a poor shooting night. His five missed shots were the most he’s missed in one game since Nov. 14 against the Rockets. Defensively, his man-to-man defense was solid but he only pulled down one defensive board in 17 minutes – an unacceptably low rate. The good news is that he once again showed off his improving feel in the passing game, which is an indication that he’s comfortable in the offense.
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Fabricio Oberto
14 minutes, five rebounds
0-for-4 from the field
Fabricio Oberto went scoreless as he played the final 14 minutes of the game. Rebounding-wise, it was good to see him produce, although all of his boards were of the offensive variety. If Oberto wants to know why he’s outside of the rotation, all he has to look at his defensive rebounding numbers. The fact that both Michael Finley and George Hill pull down more defensive rebounds per minute than Oberto is definitely cause for concern.
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Austin Croshere
11 minutes, three rebounds
0-for-3 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
If you watch a replay of the game and squint, you may very well confuse Austin Croshere with Anthony Tolliver, the former perimeter-oriented hustling bigman. Like Tolliver, Croshere gave good effort on defense and on the boards. Also like Tolliver, Croshere’s shots looked ugly on the offensive end and he wasn’t exactly the smoothest player in the open court. To stay with the Spurs, Croshere is going to have to show he still has some gas left in the tank on offense. So far, his 1-for-7 shooting in a Spurs uniform isn’t cutting it.
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Gregg Popovich
With the way Duncan and Ginobili were dominating the action, Pop didn’t need to do much other than sit back and watch. That said, it appears as if the team has reacted since he voiced his frustration concerning the defense. That Pop has been coaching in the same town for more than a decade and the players haven’t tuned him out yet is a very good sign.
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Offense
Despite the heroics from Duncan and Ginobili, the Spurs didn’t have a great shooting night. For the game, San Antonio shot 43.5% from the floor and 6-for-15 from beyond the three-point arc. Outside of Duncan on Ginobili, those numbers dip to 31.7% and 2-for-11. The 25 free throws attempted were a bright spot, as were the 21 assists.
Defense
The defense was solid throughout for San Antonio. They held the Pacers to 37% from the field, 16 free throw attempts and 16 assists. The Spurs also forced 14 turnovers and destroyed Indiana on the boards by a final tally of 57-36. The only bright spot for the Pacers was their three-point shooting (7-of-16).
Drive to Five
Following two days of rest, the Spurs will be back on the court on Friday in the AT&T Center to take on the New Jersey Nets. The Nets are struggling as of late but the combination of Devin Harris and Vince Carter is more than enough to test the athletically challenged Spurs defense. Considering that the Spurs play 11 of their next 12 games on the road following the New Jersey contest, let’s hope they embark on that journey with a win.
Believe.
Manu seems damn close to his old self, he was just teeming with energy and confidence last night.
And Croshere is making a huge case for being gone after his first 10-day is over. He brings nothing even if he was playing well. And timvp, you missed his TO, where he missed a Bowen on a pass.
we still need a big guy
Bonner and KT are a two headed monster that I'm VERY confident in next to Tim. Once Ian is back, everything will be hunky dorey. Everyone needs to stop with the trade/sign for a big man nonsense if you ask me .. not with Ian coming back no later than next season.
As always, thanks for another great recap timvp. With miminal TV coverage I find these essential reading to make sense of boxscores & feed my required Spurs fix. Very much appreciated.
Great analysis as always
Its fun watching the Spurs dominate, Gino and TD were on another level than everybody else on the court.
Crosshere's stats looked like he was more Pacer material than Spur even though he gave some hustle.
Nice, Timvp!
The Spurs need to keep Croshere if for no other reason than it appears that there may be some correlation to Croshere being on the roster and Bonner's aggressiveness on the glass.
thanks timvp!on the Hardaway gay comment
Great read timvp
I was at the game. Some observations. Even though the Spurs did not shoot well, they were still able to control the game and tempo from start to finish. They had good energy to start, and Tony's defense was very, very good. He even got switched off onto Murphy once or twice and forced him into awkward shots or passes.
It looked like Dunleavy was the only Pacer with any kind of spark and he was the only one sticking to the game plan of pushing the pace and taking early shots. No one else followed him though, and the Spurs defense did a good job of finding guys. The refs called Bonner and Mason on some really soft perimeter fouls, but they both did not let that detour them.
Over all I though it was a good game, nice ball movement on offense, nice hustle and good energy on defense and nice tempo. It was clear from the first quarter that the Pacers were not going to put up much of a fight, but the Spurs did not sink to that level.
This game didnt tell me too much about the spurs defense too much honestly.
They Pacers were obviously exhausted from the previous game and it looks like they didnt bring it at all. Im happy the Spurs Big 3 got some rest but i dont really look too much into this as a step in the right direction.
Although Manu is looking better
What are you talking about? Ian was never even here to begin with. He's never been part of the rotation. No ones knows what Ian can do. He could be awesome or he could be awful he has to come in an earn a spot in the rotation.
This game didnt tell me too much about the spurs defense too much honestly.
They Pacers were obviously exhausted from the previous game and it looks like they didnt bring it at all. Im happy the Spurs Big 3 got some rest but i dont really look too much into this as a step in the right direction.
Although Manu is looking better
Hmm, so had they played bad defense, you would've ripped them for it though.....
Not a "step" because the Pacers were so bad, but a continuation of the trend set in the last two games - the team is definitely defending much harder than they were 5 games ago when we were all calling them out for their careless mistakes on closeouts and in the lane.
Great to see vintage Manu on display! He reminded me of that 5 game stretch in Feb/March last year when TP or Tim was out and he singlehandedly dismantled every team we faced. More of that please, Manu!
Should Ime start than (Finley off the bench)?
Can somebody give me a reasonable explination of why in so many games Parker gets 6/8 assts in the first half and then gets just 1 or 2 in the second? I really can't find a reason.
Game thoughts: spurs dominated
Great read, as always.
A bad offense never really makes a bad defense look that bad.
I loved Manu's game. Dude looks close to being back to the way he was playing last season around this time. I like that Austin is shooting it up even though he hasn't made much. The guy has a nose for the ball and rebounds very well. I like that.
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