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Great win. Dallas is one of those teams this year with not a lot of wins, but will give anyone fits. I hate how good they’ll be in the future. Especially if they attract another star or two.
The Spurs were able to string together their sixth consecutive victory on Tuesday night in Dallas by a final score of 112-105. This is San Antonio's longest winning streak of the season and their 39-29 record is good enough for sole ownership of the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
The game against the Mavericks played out as expect. It was a reasonably close contest throughout as the two rivals battled in the trenches. The Spurs are now 3-0 against the Mavs but have won those three games by a combined 16 points.
With San Antonio's lead only three points with five minutes remaining, the Spurs got a strong finishing push -- particularly by DeMar DeRozan and Derrick White. Considering this team's struggles on the road, it was great to see the Spurs execute on both ends down the stretch to put another notch in the win column.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
The good: Offensively, LaMarcus Aldridge did a lot right. He was physical in the low post and wasn't bashful about overpowering undersized defenders. He did masterful work of using power moves to eventually create room for his jumpers. Defensively, he was active to close out the game. The bad: For the first three and a half quarters, Aldridge's defense was severely underwhelming. He was often slow to help, didn't provide much resistance in the paint, wasn't closing out to shooters well and didn't hit the defensive boards hard enough. Offensively, Aldridge's awareness wasn't as sharp as usual, as the Mavs were able to surprise him with double-teams on multiple occasions.
Grade: B+
Summary: Aldridge did well even though he wasn't totally locked in.
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DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan looked great physically. He was quick, bouncy and powerful with his moves. In retrospect, it's now clear that DeRozan wasn't healthy during his January doldrums. Watching him move now is night and day in comparison. Against the Mavs, DeRozan's help-defense was top notch and he was mostly a positive in one-on-one situations. Don't look now but DeRozan is starting to put together some quality defensive performances. Offensively, I have no complaints. DeRozan poured in 33 points on 19 shots, unselfishly created shots for others, relentlessly attacked the rim and rarely settled for anything that wasn't a very good look. I was also impressed with how he played down the stretch. Not only did DeRozan make key shots, he played within the offense, let Derrick White do a lot of the quarterbacking and played at a smart, steady pace. It's clear he's learned from some of his struggles on the Rodeo Road Trip and no longer is looking to rely on inefficient hero ball during money time.
Grade: A
Summary: DeRozan is playing some of his best basketball of the season.
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Derrick White
Whoa. Derrick White was straight up beastly at times tonight. Scoring-wise, White was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor. He patiently got wherever he wanted and shot the ball with confidence. Throughout the game, White's passing was also excellent. He orchestrated pick-and-rolls exceedingly well and flashed his impressive court vision with pinpoint crosscourt passes. On defense, White was fantastic against Luka Doncic. Honestly, he embarrassed the Slovenian. White moved his feet very well, was physical and challenged shots. Yes, part of it was the rookie just having a bad game but White made life difficult for Doncic from the opening tip. The only knock against White tonight was his iffy help-defense. He was so locked into his individual matchup that his rotations suffered as a result.
Grade: A
Summary: White played like he was the star in the making.
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Bryn Forbes
Offensively, Bryn Forbes was about average. This was his first game since the Rodeo Road Trip that he went without a three-pointer but he stayed aggressive, found some success within the three-point stripe and his passes were helpful at times. Where Forbes struggles was on defense -- shocking, I know. While it wasn't totally his fault that Jalen Brunson scored 34 points, Forbes certainly didn't help the matters. He was soft when guarding man-to-man and his decisions in rotation left a lot to be desired and resulted in a handful of open three-point looks for the Mavs.
Grade: C
Summary: Offense okay. Defense not okay.
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Jakob Poeltl
Jakob Poeltl was in the opening lineup again and did well enough in his 29 minutes to keep his starting gig. On defense, I liked his determination going after rebounds and he upped the difficulty level of a notable number of shots and passes. However, Poeltl's mobility wasn't as fluid as usual and it showed up most strikingly on transition defense and when caught on smaller players. On offense, his basketball IQ continues to shine. Poeltl's not a seven-foot stiff; he understands the art of ball-movement and what he needs to do to fit in. Recently, he has a bad habit of halfheartedly rolling to the basket after setting a screen and hanging the ballhandler out to dry ... and, unfortunately, that continued versus Dallas.
Grade: B
Summary: Poeltl is showing he's ready for the expanded role.
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Davis Bertans
Davis Bertans was a difference-maker. He was playing with the itchy trigger finger that he needs to be at his best. Bertans understood he was the best shooter on the court and let it fly when he had a free look at the rim. In addition to his trio of three-pointers, Bertans drew oohs and aahs with a thunderous slam on a strong drive down the lane. With the Latvian hunting for buckets, the spacing he created made the offense flow so much better. Defensively, Bertans was strong on the boards, held up well in the paint and extended his D to the three-point line with ease.
Grade: A
Summary: Bertans played exactly how he needs to play.
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Marco Belinelli
Marco Belinelli played like he was trying to take the most difficult shots possible. He never looked comfortable yet didn't hesitate to try another superduper leaner. Admirable at some level, I guess. Defensively, Belinelli wasn't helping out much but he also wasn't a glaring burden. All in all, though, the Spurs need him to play smarter. Belinelli needs to fire away but he doesn't need to search out the shots with the highest possible degree of difficulty.
Grade: D+
Summary: Belinelli was too, uh, ambitious tonight.
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Patty Mills
Patty Mills didn't do a whole lot right against the Mavs. Defensively, he was a liability. There was no one to hide him on and Dallas noticed. Offensively, he wasn't a whole lot better. I wouldn't say Mills lacked energy tonight but he also wasn't overflowing with enthusiasm as he is when he's at his best.
Grade: D+
Summary: Mills was ineffective.
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Pop
With Rudy Gay missing his second straight game with an illness, Pop was down to eight players who know what they're doing. With that in mind, he did pretty well. Add in the fact that he's trying to limit White's minutes and it's definitely a juggling act right now. I thought he made the right call by giving extended minutes to Poeltl and Bertans -- and didn't look to Dante Cunningham for minutes. However, Pop putting Mills in the closing lineup was definitely a head-scratcher.
Grade: B+
Summary: Pop pushed enough right buttons.
Looking ahead: Good win. Impressive winning streak.
Next up, the Spurs get two days of rest before beginning a four-game homestand. First up is the Knicks on Friday. Needless to say, the Spurs have some revenge to serve in the AT&T Center. Serve it cold, boys.
Great win. Dallas is one of those teams this year with not a lot of wins, but will give anyone fits. I hate how good they’ll be in the future. Especially if they attract another star or two.
Thanks for the fine work Timvp. Well appreciated as always.
Eubanks, 3 minutes 3 rebounds and 1 assist?
Incomplete grade?
One of the few times this season I don't agree with the grades.
I thought we played really poorly. We barely won against a bad team with their best player going 1 of 7 from 3 and 1 of 9 from FT line and having 9 TOs.
I didn't like coaching at all. I would go with C- for Pop:
1. I watched a lot of Mavs games this season. Spurs was the only opponent who didn't attack Dirk time and time again (like we did with Pau). I was shocked we didn't do it. Paying some respect for the elders or what was that?!
2. We played way too many minutes our big line-up. I thought if Bertans played more and Poeltl/LA played less we would sealed the game much earlier.
3. Another random scrub getting career high being checked by Forbes and Patty. No adjustment from Pop even for a short stretch to shake off the guy's momentum.
84/14/16/8 for the big three
Thanks timvp for the grades. I appreciate the quality time you put on them.
Certainly, Mills played bad and it's hard to understand why Pop let him in the floor in the final minutes. I guess Pop considers Patty is in the closing unit. Brunson's 34 points aren't only on Forbes and Mills' shoulders. I have to disagree with Poetl's grade. IMO, again he was too soft playing defense in the paint, slow and inefficient helping out. He also missed a few p&r and screen covers. I can't really blame him but either can't ignore that he was slow closing out on 3pt shooters. If one or two of these three had played just decent defense, then the Spurs had had a quiet night.
The game was on the Doncic-White match up. When Doncic had Derrick guarding him, Mavs offense got stuck. Carlisle played hide&seek with Luka's rotation trying to play him with White on the bench and it worked for short stretches, keeping the Mavs alive on the scoreboard. Doncic played with pain and it helped, we won't watch him missing so many FT again. Give credit to White's defense as well.
With Derrick being able of guarding the rival main creator in a single cover, DeRozan's defense simplifies a lot as he mainly has to stay on position getting ready for a short closeout/cut the forced pass. He's understanding this and becoming more and more efficient. Though Demar struggles when he's the man doubling, helping out, and he still has to improve in this area of the defense. It's great news for the team he's having these positive feelings playing defense as that will motivate him to keep improving.
I like what Popovich did in the clutch, allowing White to play p&r and lead the offense. Regarding the ball distribution in the final minutes, I don't think players take the decision of who's going to make the play as there is a coach doing that job (in pre-game meeting the team usually talks briefly about it but in last 6 minutes timeouts, the assistants and coaches order/suggest the playcalling). Players decide if they are taking the designated shot or not once the planned play has been executed. Spurs usually play DeRozan a lot because Popovich wants it and yesterday they played Derrick-Aldridge p&r for the same reason. It was good recognition by Pop, the Mavs didn't have an answer for that p&r all night long and Derrick had been looking good offensively all the game. Except for Bertans, shooters were off so there were no sets for them in the final minutes. Interesting Popovich didn't call too many timeouts in the final minutes, just talking to the players on the go, allowing them to play through the emotions. It was a positive growing experience for the team to play under pressure on the road.
Good win.
I told you start Poeltl and no one listened until now tbh........
Pop finally heard you, huh?
Thanks for the grades. Derrick White just wow. His court awareness, proper foot work and heady decisions should certainly land him some league defensive awards. He also flashes superior offensive skills and I like his timid approach. I’d rather see this than him jacking several bad shots a game. Team is rounding nicely into shape. Who knows how the playoff cards shall fall.
There are 2 things I am excited about after this game:
1) Pop making White run the show late in the 4th. A couple times DDR did it but for the most part it was White. And the execution was great. White's bball IQ is pretty high. He seems to know where the ball needs to go in those situations.
2) That we are doing well without Rudy Gay. Earlier on in the year he was needed for us to win. And that scared most of us only because we know how injury prone he is. But if we are able to win with or without him thats great news. Obviously he adds another dimension to our team when healthy so hopefully he's good for the playoffs. But in games like this, i'm glad he's not as relied upon as before. And i believe a lot of has to do with D White.
I would like to see Bertans subs ute Forbes in the starting lineup
Go Bertans Go!
Davis Bertans
Davis Bertans was a difference-maker. He was playing with the itchy trigger finger that he needs to be at his best. Bertans understood he was the best shooter on the court and let it fly when he had a free look at the rim. In addition to his trio of three-pointers, Bertans drew oohs and aahs with a thunderous slam on a strong drive down the lane. With the Latvian hunting for buckets, the spacing he created made the offense flow so much better. Defensively, Bertans was strong on the boards, held up well in the paint and extended his D to the three-point line with ease.
Grade: A
Summary: Bertans played exactly how he needs to play.
Thanks for the grades. You mentioned White's patience. That's what has been impressing me for some time now. He works his way to the right spot on the floor. Not just to put up shots, but the right place to make the right pass. He chages pace fluidly, to give defenders time to rotate so that his passing lane is there. Recently he's been throwing in more misdirection - pump fakes, pass fakes, etc. He's not perfect, but he has become a legitimate PG, and not just a SG who got stuck with that duty.
If he learns how to use the pump fake to get guys in the air and draw fouls, he's going to be a terror on both ends of the floor.
At least he's taking my advice, which is more than I could say for you tbh........
Thanks OP for the grades, it is really appreciated.
Very solid win tbh
Derrick White
zeuswilljudge = dpg??
Good game and impressive win.
unimpressive lucky win. No-name Jalen Brunson went off with no adjustments made, per par. Fortunate that Doncic had one of the tiest games I have ever seen. The Mavs SUCK but next year look out. The T on Demar was stupid, and am glad he didn't lose his over it.
White did an incredible job on Doncic. But even if he does that every game next year, who is going to handle Porzingis? And that duo may be enough to get some FA's to come and chase a ring. If the Mavs play their cards right, they could be serious contenders next year and for years after that.
What is the obsession with people thinking Porzingis is a game changer? Dude is injury prone and overrated. I'd take prime Lamarcus over Porzingis any day. The only reason people here love the dude is because this site has a hard for Euro scrubs.
I know Eubanks only played 3 minutes but I thought he played great during that time. He altered a layup and had a few boards. I certainly prefer him over Gasol who played with no life. Eubanks will likely never be better than a 5 -10 minute reserve, but I am happy to see him having a small impact on the game.
have to agree on mills. even someone who wasn't looking to grade his defensive efforts would have noticed how horrible his effort was.
because he is good for 35 points and 5 blocks on any given night.
Great overall game by Derozan. He's looked so much better lately. I guess he was hurt. I thought he was going to end up scoring like 40 points with that start he had. Still this game should have been won by at least 12-15 points. I'm not going to be picky at this point. I'll take this 6th win in a row.
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