Early in the game, the Spurs had a great flow. Their offense was clicking on one end, while their defense was exposing the youth of the Thunder on the other end. However, after leading 29-14 after the first quarter, San Antonio started to sputter and could never regain their rhythm. When it was all said and done, Oklahoma City had stolen a 78-76 victory.
Spurs fans who tuned in have to be disappointed with what they saw. The offense after the first quarter lacked any type of cohesiveness and many of the individual performances weren't up to par. With the Western Conference as tight as it is, this loss definitely stings.
The Thunder deserve a healthy amount of credit. They were very active on the defensive end and made the Spurs work for everything. Offensively, while it was a struggle at times, their talent on that end was obvious. Kevin Durant is becoming one of the most difficult players in the league to defend and the team's complementary players fit well around him.
The Spurs loss was reminiscent of a few of the losses from last season in which the offense stalled and never recovered. With the team unable to hit three-pointers or get to the line, not enough O could be generated. Tough loss.
-After looking a bit better against the Rockets, Duncan seemed to regress against the Thunder. Oklahoma City rarely threw hard double-teams at him and with Duncan unable to exploit one-on-one situations, the usual spacing on the offense end was non-existent. If opponents are able to get away with not doubling Duncan, the Spurs will have many more nights like tonight.
-Tony Parker played very well in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he got lackadaisical with the ball and his turnovers fueled the Thunder's comeback. Parker got hot in the second half once again but right when he cooled off for just a second, Oklahoma City got right back into the game. The five turnovers hurt his team but it's tough to complain about much else because he was the best thing the Spurs had going.
-Roger Mason, Jr. was quiet for the second straight games. With the Thunder not doubling Duncan and trapping his pick-and-rolls, Mason wasn't able to find many open looks. His four turnovers seemed to take away his confidence and he started to not want to bring the ball up the court in his backup point guard role. The league has adjusted to Mason, now Mason needs to make another adjustment to find ways to help the team.
-Following two quality outing, Michael Finley didn't deliver on Monday night. He didn't shoot well and his shot selection was extremely shaky -- especially in crucial situations. Defensively, he had the task to try to slow down Durant and actually did a decent job. Durant got loose a few times but Finley's effort and execution was mostly good.
-Matt Bonner wasn't the problem on this night. He shot with much more confidence, rebounded well once again and his perimeter defense was a bright spot. Spending a lot of time chasing around Jeff Green, Bonner more than held his own. He did miss a late three-pointer that would have been a momentum-changer but at least he had his first positive performance since the news of the Drew Gooden signing.
-Ime Udoka once again led the bench in minutes but he hurt the team more than he helped. His perimeter defense was poor, as the athletes on the Thunder exploited his lack of quickness. On the offensive end, he struggled to figure out which shots to take and which to pass up. On both ends of the court, Udoka was a liability against Oklahoma City.
-Drew Gooden had his third straight intriguing game for the Spurs. In 15 minutes, he once again scored and rebounded at a quality clip. He showed nice range on his jumper and his ballhandling and passing continue to be better than advertised. The defensive mistakes were plenty but they weren't for a lack of effort.
-George Hill had been shooting the ball well since his point guard duties were relinquished, however he struggled to convert on this night. In the second quarter, his bobbling and mishandling of the ball played a part in the offensive losing its cohesiveness. Defensively, Hill was again good but his energy wasn't as boundless as usual on that end.
-Kurt Thomas only played 11 minutes and wasn't a good answer to the athleticism at the power forward position utilized by the Thunder. He played decently but he didn't use his strength advantage enough to offset his lack of mobility.
-Playing limited minutes for the second straight game, Bruce Bowen never seemed to ease himself into the action. His defense was decent but nothing to write home about. On offense, he uncharacteristically got in the way a few times.
-Pop has a few questions to answer. First of all, who is his backup point guard? At times Mason would play that role. At other times, Hill would switch to that position. For the sake of the offense when Parker is resting, Pop has to figure out who he wants to be in charge of initiating the offense if he expects the bench unit to have any rhythm. I'm also not sure what he sees in Udoka to make him the sixth man. Udoka has played better as of late but he's still far from being a dependable asset. And if teams aren't going to double Duncan, it'd be nice to run a play other than a top pick-and-roll.
After this loss, the Timberwolves contest on Tuesday night is now basically a must-win. If the Spurs lose that game, their grip on the second seed in the West will really be in jeopardy.
Hey timvp, what is your prediction for Goodens minutes tomo? Do you think there is a solid chance of Gooden playing over 20 mins, cuz I do. And I'm also loving his scoring and rebounding ability. I bet he's doing better than his avg per 40 right now, because he's facing lesser compe ion than ever before, being in the 2nd unit.
A must win against the Wolves??????
OK is a GOOD team, they are going to be a DAMN GOOD team in 2 years. After the Mavs lost to OK, the local media acted like the team should be blown up.
What are they going to say now that OK beat SA? Probably that SA just had a night off, as opposed to the Mavs being absolutely horrible.
Sometimes the local media makes me want to puke.
the thunder have a lineup that consist of athletic/interchangeable players that tend to give the spurs problem. still no excuses as they shot 36% from the field, but we were just outmuscled defensively by guys like sefolosha and kristic.
tough loss but one they can bounce back from.
a loss tomorrow to the al jefferson-less wolves and i might have to join these other panic nuts on spurstalk.
If we lose against the T-wolves right after that is Boston and Houston. That would put us at the 3rd seed.
5th seed, here we come...
Man i sure hope Bowen has enough rest for the playoffs by now....
Green, Durant and Westbrook all shot underwhelming FG%.
Can the loss be blamed on poor spurs offence?
Two 13 point quarters ain't pretty.
39 minutes for Finely !?! Wow... just wow
Anyway, thanks for the insight timvp I can always appreciate your rational insight. I know at times I can be rather irrational on my thinking. lol
This is what the spurs offense looks like when we have no manu and can't hit our 3s. We hit 8 3-pointers on an average night. Tonight we hit 3.
I think he is resting for retirement at this point...Man i sure hope Bowen has enough rest for the playoffs by now....
Someone remembers the last the spurs lost against an opponent at 35% FG ?
39 min for Fin is TOO much 17 TOs is also too much.
Another interesting stat only Tim and TP went to the line to shoot FTs, they scored 55% of the points.
I also must add that this new improved offense doesn't look very improved at all.
Unless you are fine with the team tumbling down the standings.
He hasn't shown any reason for his minutes not to continue to rise. He'll make defensive mistakes but he could potentially help out offensively and rebounding-wise enough to make up for any miscues.
Pop has to make a decision on how he wants to rotate the bigs. Personally, I think he might as well start Gooden next to Duncan and then go with either Bonner or Thomas depending on the matchup.
here is my initial reaction
WTF
You do realize the Mavs lost to the Thunder when Dallas North was without Durant and Green, right?
Without Manu at full strength we just don't have enough firepower. Tim is still struggling and Mason, Bonner and Finley are at best just hit n' miss type shooters. When they are hot we are pretty good but, when they are not into the game mentally we stink up the NBA. It used to be bad enough when Bowen was the only non-scoring starter but, now we have 3-4 depending on Tim. This has just not been a good run for the Spurs since the start of the Rodeo road trip. Maybe Pop has something up his sleeve but, if not, we are not going to get out of the first round unless we get Denver. In past championship years we are getting our act together by now. This season we only have our head's up our ASS!
Live by the 3, die by the 3.
Thanks Timvp! Nice write up.
I had a feeling the Spurs would lose tonight.
Maybe it's me but does anyone else notice how the Spurs seem to play lethargically and tend to lose after a break b/t games? Their offense, at times, seems to be inconsistent and nonexistent. Is it the Manu factor? I notice this tends to happen even when Manu is in the lineup.
I hope they can shake this malaise soon or else they would be jettisoned out of the playoffs early.
timvp, has bruce really lost that much of a step to warrant udoka getting his mins?
he still moves his feet better than ime and shoots that corner three better.
why do you think pop is favoring udoka over bb right now?
hmmm.....what was that FG % again tonight for OK?
Late game offense disappearance reeks of 2008. Spurs need to figure it out how to get to the free throw line or they're gonna start losin games when it really starts to matter.
From the post game recap tonight:
Spurs G Manu Ginobili, who was initially expected to miss two to three weeks with a stress reaction in his right ankle, has now been out a full month. “He’s going to miss the next couple of weeks probably—the next week or two for sure,” Popovich said.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
