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One of Bonners blocks Westbrook kinda just threw it at his arms I thought.
No Manu Ginobili. No Richard Jefferson. No Stephen Jackson. No Tiago Splitter. No problem. The Spurs went into Oklahoma City and came away with a 114-105 victory over the Thunder. It definitely wasn't a bad night at the office against the West's top seed.
San Antonio had a great start, leading 30-19 after the first quarter. In the second, things got even better. DeJuan Blair finished a runner in the lane to put the Spurs up by 27 points with 3:35 remaining in the half. Predictably, that lead didn't last.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the lead was only 13 points. And that advantage almost instantly disappeared in the final stanza when the Thunder scored the quarter's first 11 points. But then Danny Green started balling. He scored eight of the team's next nine points to give the Spurs some breathing room. After Tim Duncan scored on a layup to give S.A. a four-point lead with a minute to go, Green stole an inbounds pass and his slam on the other end put an exclamation point on the victory.
Despite the blown lead and the iffy defense, I loved this win. The Spurs were shorthanded and had every excuse to lose the game but instead they kept executing and grinded out a gutty win. There were a lot of encouraging individual performances and the offense continues to look sharp. In the last five games, the boring Spurs are averaging 114.8 points per game.
Tim Duncan A-
Again, Tim Duncan doesn't get the headlines but he played quite a game. The way he defended the rim and controlled the boards was legendary. With young athletes flying all around him, the old man was somehow stronger and quicker to seemingly every loose ball. Offensively, Duncan hit a couple huge shots and played at a good pace all night long. Though he had his faults (he wasn't very good in pick-and-roll defense and attempted a few questionable shots [and passes]), there's no doubt that Duncan has played some of his best basketball of the season recently. He looks healthy and locked in right now.
Tony Parker B+
This was an exhausting game for Tony Parker. The Thunder threw multiple defenders at him and gave him a lot of different looks coming off of pick-and-rolls. In the paint, they were physical with him and went after just about every shot he attempted. On the other end, Parker had to fight around countless screens and his transition defense responsibilities were even more important than usual. Through it all, Parker battled. He didn't have a pretty game and he had a few rough patches -- but all in all, there's no way I can fault his effort. At the end of the game, Parker knocked down a pair of key jumpers and kept the Spurs in their offensive sets. Defensively, the gameplan was to go under the screens and make Russell Westbrook take a ton of shots. While Parker fouled Westbrook needlessly a few times, he challenged the fellow star point guard enough to not allow him to go completely nuts.
Danny Green A
I have been negative about Danny Green's recent play but he turned it around tonight. He got back to the havoc wreaking style, as evident by his five steals, that allowed him to play so well earlier in the season. With Green active on defense, it seemed like his offense came more naturally. He didn't have to force the issue, he simply took open shots. And, wow, did he take advantage of those open shots. With Stephen Jackson coming to town, it'll be interesting to see what kind of role Green will play once the roster is whole. Tonight, he showed why he shouldn't be forgotten.
Kawhi Leonard A
I wouldn't say this was Kawhi Leonard's best game of the season. However, it might have been his most professional outing. Tonight, Leonard didn't play like a rookie at all. His defense on Kevin Durant wasn't flashy but it was solid; Leonard kept a hand up and didn't allow Durant to easily get to his spots. On offense, I didn't see much timidness. When he got touches, he was looking to produce instead of simply trying to fit in. Since the All-Star break, Leonard's growth has been amazing. If he keeps up this type of in-season maturing, I honestly have no idea what his ceiling could be going forward.
DeJuan Blair A-
DeJuan Blair was a ball of energy tonight. His first half was one of the most productive halves he has played during his career. In 16 minutes, he totaled 18 points and seven rebounds on 9-for-11 shooting. His production was undoubtedly one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, why the Spurs got up by 27 points. In the second half, Blair obviously slowed down but he was still putting up stats at an impressive rate. That said, Blair's production came in such a wild fashion that it would be impossible to expect him to replicate this effort. He was constantly making things happen -- both positively and negatively -- but come playoff time, the Spurs need Blair to be ready to play a calmer, more under control brand of basketball.
Matt Bonner C-
Honestly, I don't know how the King of Plus/Minus did it tonight. He had at least a couple nice blocks (I thought I saw three blocks but he was only credited for two) but other than that, Bonner didn't do much else right. That, though, didn't stop him from posting a game-best +16. Defensively, his rotations were decent but far from great. His individual defense was shaky. On offense, the Thunder were actually rotating off of him quite a bit. The only shot he hit was in the second quarter when the Spurs were up by a bunch. But some how, some way, Bonner was apparently an asset tonight. I just didn't see it.
Gary Neal C+
The pattern continues for Gary Neal at backup point guard: Ugly yet effective. In his ten minutes running the show, the Spurs scored 24 points and outscored the Thunder by four. Even without Ginobili at his side, Neal was able to run the show without many hiccups. Surprisingly, Neal's worst moments of the game all came with him at shooting guard. His defense wasn't good tonight, especially when isolated against a quick player, and he suffered from tunnel vision when driving to the hoop.
James Anderson A-
With the trade deadline behind him, I thought James Anderson looked a lot better than usual. He was aggressive, showed poise and confidence, made a few plays in tight quarters, and his defense was surprisingly good. I thought he ran the court extremely well and his overall athleticism appeared to be better than we've gotten accustomed to seeing. While the Spurs could have saved quite a bit of money by trading him away, it looks like they made a wise choice to keep him around for the added depth he provides at the wing positions.
Tiago Splitter Inc.
Tiago Splitter only played a couple minutes before he vanished from sight. A lot of us were fearing an injury but it turned out Splitter was just dealing with an upset stomach. Let's hope he's ready to go tomorrow night in Dallas.
Pop A-
The bad: I really don't understand the 26 minutes for Bonner. I guess it technically worked out but I thought Pop should have either gone back to Blair or gone small instead of leaning on Bonner during the clutch minutes of the game. I also thought the playcalling got rather predictable for a stretch early in the fourth. The good: Nearly everything else. The Stephen Jackson trade could have been a distraction. Playing without Ginobili is never easy. The Spurs lost Splitter early on. The big lead was also lost. But Pop kept coaching with a steady hand and kept his troops focused on getting the win. Impressive.
One of Bonners blocks Westbrook kinda just threw it at his arms I thought.
Jefferson is the problem.No Manu Ginobili. No Richard Jefferson. No Stephen Jackson. No Tiago Splitter. No problem.
Stayed up late just for the grades. Thanks, as always!
Damn you predicted a trade to, Nostradamus?
Great analysis and a great win! Loved the way Green stepped up when needed and the D from Leonard and a lot of other things.
Indeed. Did Bonner get credited for blocking Nazr? If not, who was his other credited block against?
I still believe in him, I think his individual defense at the 2 is better than Green's (who makes up for it with hustle plays and actually hitting his 3s). I'm not surprised that Harden ended up 8/11, felt like we couldn't slow their 2 at all.
How much do you guys think the Spurs should pay to keep D.Green?
if they lowball him like that did for jax in 03, he should just go to the highest team....i think 4m sounds about right
Green should get a 2 yr / 6.5m type deal IMO. Even if he's worth a little more. Last thing you wanna do is load a guy down with expectations (even though it appears he could handle em).
Thanks, timvp. Do you guys think Duncan sits tonight? After he ended up having to play extended minutes I could see Pop sitting him on the back to back.
That would be a shame to sit Tim in Captain Jack's first game back. If anything he will play the first half, and Pop will go easy on him in the second despite what the scoreboard reads.
An upset stomach
Crofl
F
M
L
Crofl
u guys know why splitter was nowhere to be seen when KL has a monster jam?? he was taking a
Thanks for the grades, timvp. If I were the one to make this write up, I'd give A to anyone not named Matt. Bonner had two critical errors in the 4th quarter-his pass was stolen that led to a fastbreak, and an offensive foul while trying to set a pick. But the + - shows a +16. Still, a great win for the Manu/ Jackson/Splitter-less spurs. Yeah!
And so was Kawhi on Ibaka.
ibakas 5 blocks all mounted to spurs 2nd chance points
The spurs gambit seemed to limit the touches of KD and let Westbrook do the heavy lifting. Looked like it backfired against in the 4th quarter when Westbrook went wild on us with his jumpers. In the end, it was a nice strategy as KD didn't have his rhythm and Westbrook tried to to do too much without success.
Bonner plays like he's scared. I can't understand it. It's almost like he's afraid people will discover he's not really an NBA player. I'll be celebrating when the team finally parts with him.
During the game, the ESPN announcers were speculating about whether the Thunder are ready to take the next step to the NBA Finals. And of course they concluded that they are ready. I say they're not. And one good example of why not came in a post-game interview, when Scott Brooks said this:
"When we end up taking just 20 free throws and 25 threes it's probably not a good night for us."
No , Scott? You're going to blame this loss on the lack of FTA's? You're going to send your team the message that they need more than 20 free throws to win a game? I know there's a lot of talent on that team, and they draw a lot of fouls. But if they are being conditioned to accept that kind of thinking, they aren't ready for the next step. (For the record, I just clicked on a Spurs box score at random - it was a 105-83 win over Atlanta. The Spurs shot took 15 FTA's, and took 23 3P attempts. It didn't seem to be too bad of a night for them.) How about some mention of the fact that they got their asses totally kicked on the glass, and gave up 12 steals? And that during crunch time, they spent an awful lot of time worrying about the whistles?
I've been one of Green's biggest supporters. But he needs to put some good games together, or the only thing he's getting is a trip to Pop's doghouse. Maybe some of his problems have been Pop. (Subject for another discussion.) Maybe some of his recent problems has been from the shoulder. But whatever the reason, he has been erratic and sometimes downright bad. I love the way he plays ball, but he's got to perform more regularly. I'm still very confident that he can, but he's got to step up and prove it.
I was watching the game with friends. I commented during the game that Bonner looked like he didn't even know what happened. The look on his face, and his body language were hilarious. He just stood around like he didn't know who had the ball. That doesn't even make sense if you know you've just slapped a block on someone. I'm still not sure he even knew it happened.
I'd actually be quite happy if Green was completely average (or even sub-par) for 90% of the games but comes to play in the big games that matter. We already have a ton of guys who are just the opposite.
Problem is, with Ginobili returning, along with "captain Jack" we'll probably now only get to see Green sitting on the bench for the remainder of the season.
This was a great game! I have hope for the post-season.
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