Playing without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs began their Rodeo Road Trip in Minnesota. The result was a 104-94 victory. However, the final score doesn't indicate how nip and tuck this game was for a majority of the evening.
The first quarter was extraordinarily tight. Neither team ever led by more than four points. At the end of the period, the Timberwolves had a 23-21 advantage.
The spread remained within four points until there three minutes remained in the half. A 10-0 run in which Tony Parker scored or assisted on all the points gave the Spurs an eight-point lead. San Antonio held a 47-41 lead at intermission.
Minnesota came roaring back in the third quarter. A Mickael Gelabale three-pointer cut their deficit to one-point less than four minutes into the period. Then, with two and a half minutes remaining in the third, a Ricky Rubio free throw gave the Timberwolves the lead. The Spurs responded with the final five points of the quarter to take a 68-64 advantage into the final stanza.
The Timberwolves again responded well to the new quarter. The good guys were down by a pair with 7:20 to go before an 11-2 run -- Danny Green scored every point for San Antonio in the run -- put the Spurs up by seven. Minnesota had one final push that got them within three points with 3:17 remaining. But after a dunk by Kawhi Leonard and a pair of layups by Parker, the threat was over and the Spurs had prevailed.
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Tony Parker
Tony Parker's marvelous play continues. He didn't quite hit for the accuracy we've come to expect and he had some defensive lulls but otherwise he was great. Parker had very little help in the way of supporting playmakers; he was forced to do just about all the heavy lifting. He was able to do so while remaining efficient and extremely consistent. There's really not much more that can be said about Parker. Right now, there are only a handful of players in the NBA performing at his level -- and "handful" might be generous.
Final Grade: 96
Season Average: 87.9
Adj. Average: 87.9
Last 10 Average: 92.9
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Tiago Splitter
With his minutes limited to help save him from foul trouble against Nikola Pekovic, Tiago Splitter had a decent outing. He rebounded well on the offensive end but not as well on the other side of the court. His D was largely solid and he played with a healthy amount of physicality. His offense, though, wasn't as sharp. He lacked aggression at times and was slow to realize mismatches. Truthfully, Splitter needed to shoulder more of the load with Duncan out. He also turned the ball over too much. The Brazilian was far from poor but his outing underwhelmed in some notable areas.
Final Grade: 83
Season Average: 85.6
Adj. Average: 86.3
Last 10 Average: 88.3
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Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard went 29 games without double-digits in rebounding. He has now done it two games in a row. And these boards weren't cheap; Leonard oftentimes pulled down contested rebounds amongst the trees. The rest of his defense was stout. He exhibited great energy on the ball and he was quick to offer help. Offensively, although he tied his season-high, Leonard's exploits were rarely aesthetically-pleasing. He's still finding his niche and is prone to breaking the offensive sets. That said, the Spurs needed his scoring punch, so give Leonard credit for finding ways to produce.
Final Grade: 91
Season Average: 84.7
Adj. Average: 84.7
Last 10 Average: 86.1
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Danny Green
The Good: Danny Green poured in a career-high 28 points while knocking down a career-high eight three-pointers. Half of his points came in the fourth quarter. Without Green's marksmanship the Spurs would have been in a lot of trouble. The starting shooting guard also had a couple fine dishes and he played passing lanes well. The Bad: Green's decision-making was lacking, to say the least. He made some curious choices that held the Spurs back. From untimely fouls to unforced sloppiness to falling asleep on defense, Green has plenty of room to improve even though his outside shooting was invaluable and directly responsible for the win.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 82.7
Adj. Average: 83.1
Last 10 Average: 83.3
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Boris Diaw
I liked Boris Diaw's defense. He was relatively quick out on the perimeter, defended well against pick-and-rolls and was strong in the paint. The Frenchman also had a couple good passes. That, however, was the extent of his positives. He shot enough but his precision was uncharacteristically bad. His rebounding was pitiful. Diaw's running of the court was also slower than usual.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 81.3
Adj. Average: 82.1
Last 10 Average: 83.3
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Gary Neal
Gary Neal's inability to hit shots is now impossible to ignore. If you have a panic button at your disposal, go ahead and push it. In his last four games, he's 6-for-24 (25%) from the field. Going back to Jan. 18, Neal is shooting 29.7% over a span of nine games and 174 minutes. Against Minnesota, he didn't hesitate shooting the ball. Usually that's a positive trait for a shooter -- but not when the shooter is shooting so waywardly. Outside of his shooting, he wasn't bad on defense … although that was partly due to Ricky Rubio's ineptness on offense. Overall, I thought his effort was good but Neal just doesn't have it right now.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 79.2
Adj. Average: 80.4
Last 10 Average: 73.9
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Stephen Jackson
Stephen Jackson's three-point stroke looks like a slow motion catapult that needs to be recalibrated. His ballhandling and passer are also in need of sharpening. Athletically, Jackson continues to look painfully slow. Despite those negatives, it wasn't all bad against the Timberwolves. Jackson rebounded well, made a few plays off the bounce and played adequate defense.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 80.4
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 76.3
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DeJuan Blair
I liked DeJuan Blair's effort on the glass. He was snaring rebounds out of the air like he used to do as a rookie. He also made a great pass on offense. On the other end of the spectrum, Blair didn't pick his spots well on offense and his defense was iffy. His energy on D was commendable but the results didn't match.
Final Grade: 78
Season Average: 80.2
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 86.7
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Matt Bonner
Congrats to Matt Bonner for making the three-point contest at All-Star Weekend. He's only two for his last 15 on three-pointers but that obviously didn't hurt the #letbonnershoot campaign. Versus Minnesota, he again was sluggish in terms of moving to open space -- though he did hit a significant jumper in the fourth. His defense wasn't much to write home about but his effort on the boards was admirable. Bonner was also in the middle of many loose ball situations. While his liveliness was praiseworthy, the Spurs really need him to regain his space-creating form.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 80.0
Adj. Average: 81.6
Last 10 Average: 79.3
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Nando De Colo
I thought this was Nando De Colo's best game in a long, long time. He didn't score but his passing was fantastic. The Spurs desperately needed another playmaker and De Colo met the challenge. He was patient when running pick-and-roll sets and was able to consistently find open players. His court vision and passing skills were on full display, which hasn't been the case in recent weeks. I also thought he played with purposeful aggression on defense. Add in the absence of any glaring miscues and this was an extremely strong outing for the first-year Frenchman.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 81.6
Adj. Average: 83.2
Last 10 Average: 81.1
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Aron Baynes
Even though Aron Baynes hardly dented the scorecard, he definitely helped out in a few areas. Firstly, his protection of the rim helped stymie drives by Minnesotans. Secondly, his screens on offense opened up tons of space for Parker and the other guards. Third of all, he banged with Pekovic and helped keep him from totally taking over. The subtleties of the game are still a work in progress for Baynes (he's poor defending pick-and-rolls, he's not taking his time when the ball is in his hands, etc.) but, despite the weaknesses, he is already able to help this team.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 88.5
Adj. Average: 88.9
Last 10 Average: 88.5
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Pop
Pop's coaching was crafty. He limited Splitter's minutes early to ensure he'd have him for the stretch run … and it worked out as planned. He mixed and matched the bigs to account for the Timberwolves personnel. Despite Green's blatant errors, Pop kept going back to him and that paid huge dividends in the fourth. Keeping the ball in De Colo's hands also worked out well for the second unit.
Final Grade: 94
Season Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 85.9
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Offense
The offense wasn't especially efficient but the Spurs avoided any major pitfalls. Nothing stands out as a negative, which in itself is a positive since the Spurs were shorthanded.
Final Grade: 84
Season Average: 84.0
Last 10 Average: 83.7
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Defense
Holding the Timberwolves to less than a point per possession was great work without both Duncan and Ginobili. Minnesota managed only 16 assists -- which matched their 16 turnovers. Everyone played with a wholesome portion of ruggedness on D -- as evident by the Timberwolves scoring only 36 points in the paint.
Final Grade: 90
Season Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 88.2
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Overall
Road wins without two of your three best players should never be taken for granted. Sure, Minnesota is dealing with their own array of injuries but, regardless, this was a very good way to begin the Rodeo Road Trip. Onward.
Final Grade: 89
Season Average: 84.5
Last 10 Average: 87.2
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That Baynes picture is hilarious.
Green needs to get better at keeping defensive focus. But I like the fact that he's trying to be more aggressive on offense. When he steps out of line too much, Pop's right to pull him. But if turnovers now means better play-making later, then I'm all for it.
Good thoughts. I think Danny just needs to play with more confidence/purpose and a lot of those rough edges will straighten out. The guy can shoot, that's for sure, and he's not a horrifically undersized 2 like Neal is, so I am a lot more comfortable with him on the floor regardless of what people say about being "clutch".
Amazing how this team continues to win without 2 of their best players. No other team in the NBA is even remotely capable of that.
Hey timvp, here is a GIF of Baynes with the white background cut out, if you'd like to use it.
Help an OCD brotha' out!
ThanksHey timvp, here is a GIF of Baynes with the white background cut out, if you'd like to use it.
Help an OCD brotha' out!
I was meaning to do that, tbh.
Sometimes it feels like KY is wasted playing so much on the perimeter when he can rebound so well.
Makes you wonder, if we got someone like Garnett, wouldn't KY be able to play closer to the basket...
You can tell he doesn't want to become a Danny Green, he drives every time he can, he shoots some nice midrange jumpers, he even tries to pass sometimes...
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