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As an early Christmas present, the Spurs gave their fans a first-class beating of the Mavericks. San Antonio led by as many as 46 points before strolling to a 129-91 victory.
The Spurs jumped on the Mavs early, building a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game. However, Dallas kept things relatively close until the latter stages of the second quarter. With the Spurs up by four points with 4:33 remaining before the half, the good guys got going. A 15-7 run before intermission gave the Spurs a 12-point halftime lead.
The third quarter was when the gift was fully unwrapped. A 12-0 burst early in the period gave the Spurs an 80-57 advantage. A couple minutes later, San Antonio went on a 10-0 run to bump up the lead to 34 points.
A thunderous dunk by Tiago Splitter made it 100-66 heading into the fourth. The game, for all intents and purposes, was over. Prior to the final buzzer sounding, the Spurs set a new franchise record by making 20 three-pointers.
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Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan’s offensive aggression was extremely helpful. Even though he was just 1-for-7 on jumpers outside of 13 feet, everything else was working so well that he remained a major positive on that end. When the Mavs began to send extra defenders his way, Duncan picked them apart with his passing. Defensively, he was again a monster in the paint. Duncan recorded two more blocks and is averaging 2.6 blocks for the month of December. That’s the most blocks he has averaged in a month since the 2007 championship run.
Final Grade: 92
Season Average: 90.4
Adj. Average: 90.7
Last 10 Average: 87.0
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Manu Ginobili
The Mavs were collapsing defenders in the lane when Manu Ginobili got the ball. Dumb move. The Argentine picked Dallas apart with his ability to find the open man, totaling a season-high nine assists in only 21 minutes. Ginobili is averaging 7.1 assists per 36 minutes, a career-best rate. On the defensive end, while his individual defense wasn’t especially good, Ginobili made noise with his steals. His rebounding was also strong again.
Final Grade: 92
Season Average: 82.8
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 84.0
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Tony Parker
Tony Parker’s defense, particularly against Darren Collison in transition, was iffy. He also turned it over more than usual. The rest of his game, though, was fine. He went to the hole hard, which resulted in seven free throw attempts in 28 minutes. Parker’s outside shooting was sharp. On the season, it’s difficult not be excited about the Frenchman’s shooting stats: 50.5% from the field, 40.6% on three-pointers and 82.8% at the line. After a relatively slow start, he’s again clearly playing at an All-Star level.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 86.7
Adj. Average: 86.7
Last 10 Average: 85.8
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Danny Green
The streakiness of Danny Green made another appearance. After hitting just three of his previous 17 attempts from deep, he went 7-for-8 on three-pointers against the Mavs. While in theory it’d be nice if Green got more consistent from three-point land, it’s tough to be mad at someone who is shooting right around 40% on threes for the season. Defensively, Green might have been even better. Freed to return to shooting guard for the first time in weeks, he wasted little time showing his defensive chops. Green helped limit OJ Mayo to almost as many turnovers (6) as points (7).
Final Grade: 98
Season Average: 81.9
Adj. Average: 82.2
Last 10 Average: 82.0
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Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard has looked about as good as we could have reasonably hoped since his return from injury. Defensively, he was a terror against Dallas. When he wasn’t erasing Shawn Marion or some other Dallas swingman from the court, he was showing off elite anticipation skills in the passing lanes. Combine his anticipation with his long arms and giant hands and it’s not surprising that he’s second in the entire NBA in steals per minute so far this season. Offensively, Leonard did a lot of good work. While he was a bit too aggressive at times, that’s a trait the Spurs can live with since he’s actively trying to find his niche in the offensive flow. Leonard’s outside shot looks great and his movements on the weakside remain a strength. Perhaps most important of all is the fact that he looks to be near 100% healthy.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 85.4
Adj. Average: 85.5
Last 10 Average: 91.5
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Tiago Splitter
The Good: Tiago Splitter rebounded well and played strong defense in the paint. The Mavs tried to go small against the Spurs but Splitter’s agility out on the perimeter ruined that strategy. Offensively, Splitter had a few strong takes to the rim and threw down a thunderous dunk to end the third quarter. The Bad: Splitter’s transition defense was sometimes slow. On offense, prior to the dunk, he missed a couple chip shots he usually makes.
Final Grade: 82
Season Average: 85.0
Adj. Average: 85.8
Last 10 Average: 88.6
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Boris Diaw
Boris Diaw has now put together nine straight quarters of strong play. Offensively, he’s pushing the pace, making wise decisions and was extremely precise. Not only did he not turn the ball over for the second straight game, he didn’t pass up many shots against the Mavs. Defensively, Diaw wasn’t quite as good. While his individual defense was good, his rotations weren’t always timely and he was meek on the glass. All in all, though, Diaw is beginning to play how the Spurs need him play.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 79.8
Adj. Average: 81.0
Last 10 Average: 79.3
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Stephen Jackson
Stephen Jackson was sloppy, especially when he was on the move. His passing was also a beat or two late at times. But the rest of his game showed a lot of signs of improvement. First of all, his shot-making skills had been missing in action. Versus Dallas, he had much better touch on his jumper and didn’t hesitate to launch. Defensively, he was much better about moving his feet on the perimeter. When he was at power forward, he banged in the post and he also pulled down a couple contested boards.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 83.4
Adj. Average: 84.0
Last 10 Average: 78.0
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Gary Neal
Gary Neal has been slowed recently with an apparent injury. He was even slower against the Mavs before he eventually left the game for good with a calf strain. Let’s hope he takes the time to get to full strength. Lately, probably due to injury, Neal just hasn’t been that good. Outside of the contest against the Celtics, Neal is a woeful 10-for-43 from the field over the last six games.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 80.9
Adj. Average: 81.8
Last 10 Average: 77.9
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Pop
It was the right move to place Leonard back in the starting lineup. I liked that Pop was open about using Jackson at power forward. Running early plays for Green obviously paid off. The only questionable decision was using Neal as the backup point guard. Then again, Neal probably deserves a chance to stay in the rotation.
Final Grade: 88
Season Average: 84.3
Last 10 Average: 81.9
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Offense
The 20 three-pointers made life a lot easier, needless to say. But the Spurs also deserve credit for scoring well in transition, doing damage in the paint and passing the ball extremely well.
Final Grade: 93
Season Average: 84.3
Last 10 Average: 82.9
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Defense
The best aspect of San Antonio’s defense was racking up a season-high 17 steals. The Spurs also defended well in the paint and beyond the three-point line. On the other hand, letting the Mavs get to the line 29 times the worst aspect.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 83.1
Last 10 Average: 83.0
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Overall
The Mavs haven’t played well lately and Dirk Nowitzki was making his season debut. That said, I’m not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. Fun win. Merry Christmas to all Spurs fans.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 82.7
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Last edited by timvp; 12-26-2012 at 05:30 PM.
photos not okay
Btw. why are you so late with your thoughts lately?
When you put them early enough there is more good talk.
Great read, but you got some of the pics mixed up. Kawhi with Neal's, Jax has Kawhi's and Nealhas Jax...
Fixed.
Apologies.
You know, in the review above, Kawhi Leonard looks like Gary Neal. Stephen Jackson looks like Kawhi Leonard. And Gary Neal looks like Stephen Jackson. THEREFORE, modus tollens, Gary Neal must look like Kawhi Leonard. LOL had to dust of ye olde Elementary Logic textbook from college. Just kidding, Timvp thanks as always!!
timvp - never any need for you to apologize, ever, you are very generous with your time, and the first thing after a game I want to see is your thoughts. Happy Holidays!
Thanks timvp
Jax doesnt have a grade
No need to. Even though I can suspect that you wrote it bit ironic.
I'm just saying that there is more quality conversation when you put the thought sooner then later. And you seems to be on top this year like never before.
Oops, fixed.
So, how long before the Spurs break the NBA record for three-pointers?
kawhi should be 96-100 range ..... 91 to low ......
I would have given Green 100 for salvaging his trade value tbh.
You want them faster? Start paying him an amount he'll deem worth doing them faster for you. It's Christmas time and the guy has a wife and kids, so no worries on getting them out a couple days later or not at all.
Would've loved to see a 50 point win on Mark Cuban's squad, but I'll take a 38 point win just the same.
Thanks for the grades.
Also, Kawhi is the way of the future tbh.
Easy Doggy boy
I do not want them faster. Who am I to decide btw.
It's his decision and I just said what I've observed. It seems like LJ is always on with the threads and when it's possible he answers quick and gives stats etc.
To me really nobody has to do anything.
I rather watch games then reads stuff about games
Thanks Timvp
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