After a pair of losses dropped the Spurs to the eighth seed in the Western Conference, San Antonio really needed a road win in Boston on Sunday night. Thankfully, they were indeed able to secure the victory, which has to be considered as one of their best road wins of the season. The 115-96 toppling of the Celtics improved the Spurs to 43-31 on the season.
Sure, Boston was missing a couple key pieces and shot poorly from the perimeter but San Antonio deserves a lot of credit for how they played tonight. They executed very well offensively, competed on defense and never took their foot off the gas pedal. Very good win.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge was amazing. He set the tone with his 19 first quarter points. He found a rhythm, realized he had a distinct advantage and milked it for all it was worth. After Aldridge’s uneven effort and focus in the last few games, it was great to see him so locked in. When he wasn’t using his muscle to score around the rim or draining one of his perimeter jumpers, he could be found handing out a well-timed pass. Defensively, he moved well and was dominant on the glass.
Grade: A+
Summary: Aldridge was a beast.
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DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan was most deadly when he was looking to make plays against the Celtics. He probed well, broke down the defense and unselfishly shared the basketball. His 11 assists were made even more valuable due to the fact that he had only one turnover. Scoring-wise, DeRozan wasn’t as impressive. He forced a couple shots and wasn’t taking the ball to the hoop as physically as usual (as evidenced by his lack of a free throw attempt). Defensively, DeRozan was solid once again. His post-All-Star break D has been a rather significant improvement compared to how he began the campaign.
Grade: B
Summary: DeRozan did a lot of good.
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Derrick White
Pluses: Derrick White was really good on defense. His main task was slowing Kyrie Irving and that was a success. White’s help defense was also quick and effective. Offensively, he took care of the ball and showed off his impressive court vision on multiple occasions. Minuses: White didn’t push the pace well on offense and was oftentimes slow at getting the team into their sets. His outside jumper looked flat and he wasn’t getting good elevation when attempting to finish in the paint.
Grade: B
Summary: White’s defense shone brightly.
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Bryn Forbes
After a sizzling performance against the Rockets, Bryn Forbes came out firing against the Celtics. Unfortunately for him, the results weren’t nearly as rosy. Forbes forced a couple shots, reverted to being a shaky ballhandler and the rock was sticking in his hands more than usual. Defensively, he was okay but nothing special.
Grade: C
Summary: Forbes didn’t have the magic touch tonight.
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Jakob Poeltl
Back in the starting lineup, Jakob Poeltl showed why the coaches should think about making him a permanent fixture in the opening fivesome. On D, he protected the rim well, rapidly closed gaps in coverage with his mobility and rebounded with force. On offense, Poeltl moved well without the ball, battled on the boards and set mean picks.
Grade: B+
Summary: Poeltl provided a valuable workmanlike effort.
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Marco Belinelli
Marco Belinelli had played well recently but he didn’t have it going in Boston. His shot-selection was poor, as Belinelli needlessly made shots extra difficult. His passing and off-ball movement were also out of whack. Defensively, though, I thought the Italian was actually quite a bit better than usual. His effort was commendable and was even an asset on the defensive glass.
Grade: C
Summary: Belinelli was leaning more than usual.
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Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay gave the Spurs 22 strong minutes off the bench. He selected smart shots, took his time and passed the ball extremely well. When the bench unit needed a focal point in halfcourt sets, Gay was up for the job. Defensively, he looked a little bit more mobile and was once again a big help rebounding-wise.
Grade: B+
Summary: Gay is a weapon off the bench.
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Patty Mills
I was happy with how Patty Mills played. He was scrappy on defense and supplied a healthy amount of pressure. Offensively, he shot it straight, provided value when going to the hoop and made plays with his passing. The spark he gave the team when he went on the court was palpable.
Grade: A-
Summary: Mills gave the team a lift.
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Davis Bertans
After going 1-for-10 on threes against the Rockets, Davis Bertans missed his first three shots from downtown against the Celtics. But to his credit, he kept firing away … and it paid off. To put Boston to bed and unleash the boo birds, Bertans drained three fourth quarter three-pointers in a span of two and a half minutes. Defensively, he was solid individually and useful team-wise. Bertans’ rebounding was another noteworthy success.
Grade: B
Summary: Bertans broke out of his slump in grand style.
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Pop
Pop made the right move by going back to Poeltl as a starter. His rotation made a lot of sense. He obviously made it a point to feed Aldridge early and often – and that couldn’t have played out any better.
Grade: B+
Summary: Pop did what he needed to do to get this much-needed road win.
Looking ahead: Next up, the Spurs go to Charlotte. Getting revenge for the loss in San Antonio would make this a successful three-game road trip.
Good win.
The way Boston played, though, losing was almost impossible.
I think DDR was good tonight, didn't make too many mistakes and didn't play his usual "I am The Man" bs. And there was no crunch time....But zero rebounds?
I guess we'll now try to win a couple games and see if OKC keeps losing, and then quietly coast to the 8th seed with some resting and emphasis on avoiding injuries.
Thanks Timvp. How I wish Aldridge is like this every night. He could be a beast.
Great grades Timvp
11 ast and 1 turnover for Demar, nice
That’s a shame we’re not in eastern conference))
good win, happy for LA
but Boston was bad and their body language is the worst in the league
Kyrie is sucha bad leader it's amazing. On paper (and real life) he is much better than DeRozan and yet strangely enough I would almost rather have DeRozan than Kyrie. And the fact that it's even close for me speaks volumes. For as much is said here about DDR and his piss poor at ude, he has never actually publicly said anything negative about the Spurs. Kyrie is unhappy with Stevens, with his teammates, with the media, etc etc. The dude is sucha kill joy that I think he ruins a lockerroom and sucks the joy out of bball.
I wouldn’t say Patty is entirely worth his hefty contract, but when he plays like he did last night and like he’s played more lately, you can at least see the sentiment of it. When he plays like this, he’s very valuable to the team and instrumental in winning.
If he was in SA, he would be happy. His problem is people playing for their stats and thinking they are better than they are: hence he only would have problems with DDR.
He’s just like his mentor from the Cleveland days.
Thanks for the grades. I hate to admit because usually his defense sucks, but Mills played great last night. I was really impressed with Aldridge. I feel he is capable of scoring close to 30 points a game if he actually looked for his shot and is aggressive like the way he was last night.
The guy was just torched by Kemba the other day and blamed Stevens for him playing bad defense. I've never once seen him place the blame on himself as a leader. To me, he is the one playing for stats. He takes the most shots and hogs the ball. I mean if they really cared about stats then Jason Tatum would be averaging more shots and points.
He was right, you have to double team Kemba closing the games. Stevens is actually very overrated, in my opinion. The league bet on his pretty face pumping the guy as one the best coaches in the league already on his first year (that was so pathetic). Now that he has a strong team with actual players, he is being overcoached regularly in games he should easily win.
Kyrie is not my favorite player by miles, but he is clutch and can teach mightily to each and everyone in Celtics roster. He takes shots because nobody else can make a bucket to save his own life. Tatum thinks he is the new LeBron but if he can't hit his midrange jumper he is basically useless on offense.
most overrated player in the league
Kyrie might be right but you still dont air it publicly. He should've said something along the lines: " I need to play better defense than that. Kemba is a great player and having a terrific year but it's on me as the leader of the team to step up and match his intensity level. I know I can do better."
i agree Stevens is overrated, but this is really his first year of bad coaching. He's been above average to great in every other year. The whole he can't handle star ego thing is really the chicken and the egg debate with me. Can he not handle star egos? Or can he just not handle Kyrie's piss poor at ude?
what I do know is that this was Kyrie's year to shine and show off his ability to lead a team that most of the media picked to make the finals (and some to even win the whole thing) and he has failed miserably. They wont even get home court advantage in the 1st roundIf I'm a Celtics fan than this year has been far more disappointing than the Spurs year in comparison (where most people knew we weren't even contending this year) and the two teams have the same record.
That would be Lebron James homie. Led them Lakers to a worse record this year than last and people still say he is the best player in the world
I think DeMar is a nice person and a good teammate in terms of chemistry but a flawed and psychologically unstable player.
Kyrie is a very talented offensive player but a poor teammate and not the smartest person on earth.
I would rather have... neither of them ))))
Spurs season is absolutely better than Boston, hands down. We'll see playoffs time if things change. As of today, we have a lot more to be excited looking forward.They wont even get home court advantage in the 1st round
Boston was not build for the new rules, that was clear from the first month of the season. They can't shoot threes and their P+R is not particularly effective. They have a long bench of average guys, and too much money tied up in Hayward in the forst place (bad luck there, obviously, but overrated guy nevertheless): it only makes for tensions among players for court time. Playoffs reffing might be tighter and that can help Celts, I think.
Kyrie didn't shine and the at ude is not good, but the guy is a beast in the playoffs, I wouldn't count them out yet.
Imagine when DDR finds out the earth is flat...
Depends if he gets excited or depressed after it...
Anyway, I can't imagine him after all the years of sucking in crunch time and play-offs do what Kyrie did in this game: one play he shows direct hostile irritation towards Theis fouling LA, and then the next play he just stands still on defense and gives zero when his players cuts to the basket for an easy lay-up.
I also can't imagine DDR make the last shot to win the Finals
That's why I'd go for neither of them
DDR isn't exactly a problem player. Put him on a team where he is the decided number 2 and that has strong leadership and he will be a great player to have on the roster. The problem is he doesn't have it in him to shoulder the load if a team mentally and he isn't good enough to be the #1 on a contender. Put him on a team with strong leadership and he will look good, especially if he has a number 1 scorer for other teams to concentrate on say Kemba or Curry or Davis. Contracts are structured though to make it really hard to have an almost top level player.
Spurs game grade turned into a discussion on how much of a head case Kyrie is.......classic
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