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tbh it really was a moral victory, kawhi is obviously in lbj's head and owns him repeatedly. needing your pg to drop 55+ to get a win isn't something that should be celebrated or seen as something positive.
I'd never try to take that foul with 4 seconds left and up by 3. Timing it right is so hard to do. With 4 seconds left everyone knows you have to get up a three, including the officials. With the way they allow continuation, guys like Irving, Paul, Harden, Lillard, Westbrook, Durant, James, Curry, Thompson, Ellis and Crawford would be shooting three free throws, or worse 1 free throw for a 4 point play to win the game. Just moments earlier they almost gave Irving a continuation on a layup attempt. Just to do a good contest without fouling, and if they make it so be it.
tbh it really was a moral victory, kawhi is obviously in lbj's head and owns him repeatedly. needing your pg to drop 55+ to get a win isn't something that should be celebrated or seen as something positive.
Fluke loss, imo. I'm not worried, either... but the crucial missed free throws during the last few minutes of the 4th quarter when the game is on the line have GOT TO STOP. Again... MAKE YOUR ING FREE THROWS!!
everyone bricked last night, that's what's worrying
Not too pissed about the loss. LeBron was due to win here even if it took a miraculous effort from Irving. Spurs are holding on to the 6th seed by a hair. Not sure who I want to win in the Clips vs Mavs game tonight.
This is true. I thought the Cavs' celebrated as if they won a series. This is only third game I've been able to watch this year. Looked to me like Manu has lost some weight of late. Hope it doesn't take too long to regain his strength. Can't picture Irving doing this when pressure is on.
Im worried tbh, actually scarred cant feel my feet.
Damn FT's man, I tell you. Tim made 2-2 late and then our SF steps up and misses three in a row. It was a fluke loss in a season full of fluke losses, now it's not a fluke if it keeps happening lol. They have some bad luck at times man I swear, unbelievable shots fall and some guy just flat out goes off. I guess thats karma and the price you pay for being 5 time champs and the BBALL GODS have to give you some bad luck to go along with the les and decades of winning. I will take it.
Oh yeah, MAKE YOUR ING FT's, agreed.
"A few of those shots, it just left my hands and I kind of threw them up at the rim and I was lucky enough and blessed enough that they went in," Irving said.
One of those games, tbh
The mental aspect of the game can be the most difficult aspect to overcome. It's the 6+ game this season that you could say this aboout a Spurs loss. This has been a chronic issue that has plagued them all season long and if it doesn't get ironed out very soon, the Spurs will find them on the losing end of many close games in the playoffs. If games were only 47.5 minutes long, the Spurs would be on their way to a 60 win season.
What mental aspect? This team overcame perhaps the worst loss in NBA Finals history and came back stronger. Doubting this team's mental for ude at this point is ridiculous.
I can't think of one season where we didn't lose closely contested games, even during TD's prime. People make much ado about this stuff since Game 6, but the Spurs used to lose games like this all the time prior to that, even in the playoffs.
This season has been rough due to injuries, some coasting, etc, but the team has come around in the last week or so. That doesn't mean they're going to win every game or that they're a lock to ring, but with efforts like last night you're definitely going to win more games than you're going to lose.
The ridiculousness of your reply is ridiculously ridiculous. Not sure what last year has to do with this year. The Spurs averaged 15+ margin of victory during last year's post season. Not sure I mentioned anything about last year's mental for ude nor the ability to get back to championship form this season. Who's questioning the effort? The effort has been there all season long. Sometimes, it just looks bad when players are missing shots, turning it over or playing on bad hamstrings. Don't confuse execution with effort. Free throws are as much mental as they are physical. Unless it's technique, it's likely in the player's head. That could become a problem if the Spurs are playing a lot of close games in the playoffs. Not sure how the rest of this post applies to what I said. Sure, the Spurs have lost close games in the past and they'll continue to lose close games 50 years from now. So what?
Because it's the exact same team. They've been a bit more banged up, perhaps a little less interested this season, but you can't separate this team from last. It's the same damn team.
Last season team also lost close games in the playoffs: Game 3 against Dallas, Game 2 in the Finals. Sometimes it just happens, without some "mental brouhaha" going on.
WoW Power to El nono for having the patience talking to a numbnut.
It's like trying to talk to mentally re ed kid.
WoW Power to El nono for having the patience talking to a numbnut.
It's like trying to talk to mentally re ed kid...
Good thread until the Alt's came in and ruined it, tbh
Yep, you're right. It's the same damn team however, the environment has changed. It's not the same damn league. Also, game two of the finals... Parker's 4 missed free throws... should have been a sweep Nono, should have been a sweep. Personally, I think the Spurs can win but, they don't have the same margin for error as they did last year especially when they're coming in as the road team. That's why free throws can play a huge role in the postseason.
They are the same players=same team and same ticky tacky league get over it stop carrying the corpse.
My gosh, how can anyone be really discouraged by this loss? Kyrie had a sick game out of his mind. Total props to him, but I don't see how Spurs let him do that again with time to prepare. Lebron vs Kawhi was so much fun to watch. This was just a great game to watch even though we lost. I loved our compe iveness and intensity.
Whoever said we had a near perfect offensive game...SMH. Seemed like Spurs lived in the paint all night while the Cavs were shooting more jumpers and making them. I thought the Spurs had a relatively easy offensive game compared to the Cavs.
I like Mozgov, but he has hands of stone in traffic. Lebron seems to have slowed down just a bit, although his post-up play can still be a weapon. JR is gonna do JR crap. I remember going to a Spurs-Nuggets game once and while the Spurs were doing their full pregame warmup drills until the last possible minute, JR spent a good 5 minutes heaving half-court shots. He actually practices those numbnut shots. Kevin Love's role is a mystery and looks like he's shriveled up. They'll need to discover him or they won't go far. I don't see them getting past the Hawks actually.
Overall I felt really encouraged by the Spurs' performance.
Last year we didn't have that huge a margin of error. I think everybody is enamored with the blowout wins (granted, who isn't), but we were on the brink at least a couple of times, and we could've easily not won it. Monta/Dirk have an inspired game 7 and Tony/Manu do not, and now we would be talking about how this team is 1st round fodder "again". Same with Gino's 3, Kawhi's steal and Tim's turnaround shot against OKC. Then we would be talking how "nothing matters because we can't beat OKC anyways".
It's always hard to win it all, and it was hard last season too. It's not just freebies that are important, is all the little details. I think this team for a while this season, be it because it was not whole, or because they were disinterested, or any other reason, didn't work on the little things, and it cost us.
But then over the last couple of weeks they have started to play harder, smarter, and it looks like they're finally building towards something. Last night loss sucked, but I thought it was another step in the right direction, building towards being the best team we can be. Sometimes some NBA player is going to go nuts and there's little you can do. You tip your hat and hope he can't do that for 4 straight games. That's all there is to it.
I am. The complete and utter inability of this team to close out games this season is alarming. At some point, it's not just bad luck or a fluke from the opposition. I don't want to hear about superior 1-on-1 talent either; this was about them once again shooting themselves in the foot. It was also about the coach putting his ego before the team and not fouling up three late. Maybe it'll take another 50 national TV embarrassments before he concedes.
Also, for as great a game as it was and for as much intensity as they're playing with lately, they (particularly Parker) can't maintain this for another 3 months. They need to start blowing out some teams early and getting the top players more rest. Diaw and Mills especially need to start playing better.
As far as Irving, he was the reincarnation of Curry in game 1 in '13. Those two and Lillard, with their ability to make off the dribble contested threes, occasionally get in those zones where the only possible way to contain them is to trap them. But with James essentially playing the four most of the way down the stretch, he'd have killed them as the secondary play maker, so I can't fault them for not doing so.
People complain about Belinelli instead of Splitter down the stretch, but the Cavs were playing small and the Spurs obviously couldn't stop them, so they needed to attempt to outscore them. Ginobili's illness and Diaw's inability to make a three left Belinelli as the natural fifth in this situation unfortunately.
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