Grades: Spurs @ Nuggets - Dec. 28, 2018

[timvp]

Well, that was frustrating. The Spurs were tantalizingly close to winning a second consecutive game against the Nuggets -- this time in Denver -- but they just couldn't get over the hump.

After a feeble first half by San Antonio that saw them fall behind by as many as 18 points, the good guys got their groove back in the third quarter. The defense stiffened, as the Nuggets were only able to score 17 points in the period.

With a 14-point halftime deficit sliced to three points, Bryn Forbes had a three-pointer with two and a half remaining in the third that could have tied it. Clang number one. That, unfortunately, became a pattern.

-Marco Belinelli missed three-pointer down by three with 1:04 in the third
-Rudy Gay missed three-pointer down by three with 9:34 in the fourth
-Forbes missed three-pointer down by three with 2:09 in the fourth
-Jakob Poeltl splits a pair of free throws down two with 1:47 in the fourth
-Derrick White missed three-pointer down by three with 1:19 in the fourth
-White splits a pair of free throws down by two with 28.8 seconds in the fourth

The Spurs got the basketball back trailing by three points with 7.2 seconds remaining in the game but, fittingly I suppose, failed to force overtime.

While I'd definitely categorize the 102-99 defeat as frustrating, I thought there were bright spots. Primarily, the compe iveness in the second half was great, particularly after the weak showing in the first two periods. The Spurs stepped up their defense, created good looks offensively and gave themselves a chance to win a road game against a quality opponent.

While it's possible to criticize a play here and a miscalculation there, the loss boils down to three factors: they hit only 11-of-20 (55%) free throws, only 8-of-27 (29.6%) three-pointers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Considering the Spurs entered the game first in the entire NBA in free throw percentage (82.6%), first in three-point percentage (40%) and fifth in defensive rebounding percentage, that was a difficult trio of pills to swallow and still try to win out on the road against a playoff bound Western Conference foe. If they had cleaned up even one of those areas, this would have gone down as one of the better wins of the season.

But it didn't happen. Tip your hats to the Nuggets and move on.

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LaMarcus Aldridge

As I was watching the game live, I thought LaMarcus Aldridge was being too ball dominant. The rock would go to him and it would rarely come back out. But, in hindsight, Aldridge was probably right to be as aggressive as he was due to the fact that nobody else could consistently generate offense. On this night, feeding the big fella was the best offensive option. And, really, it's difficult to criticize his production. He played physically for a majority of the game (though he did settle for a few too many fadeaways), the passes he did make were usually on target, he played 38 turnoverless minutes and battled hard on the offensive glass. Defensively, I don't have many complaints. He had his hands full with a revenge-seeking Nikola Jokic but he had his moments of success on that end (helping to force him into six turnovers, for example) and his effort level was consistently high. My main critique tonight would be Aldridge's defensive rebounding, or lack thereof. He simply didn't pull down enough boards on that end. (Stat of the night: In the first 17 games of the season, Aldridge couldn't hit a shot [40.6% from the field] but was rebounding like a madman [11.4 boards per game]. Since then, in 19 games he has been a marksman from the floor [57%] and a lightweight on the glass [7.1 per game]. I don't have an explanation.)
Grade: A-
Summary: An inspired Aldridge played well enough for the Spurs to win.

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DeMar DeRozan

This was an unusual evening for DeMar DeRozan. For perhaps the first time this season in a compe ive game, DeRozan never really got around to asserting himself offensively. While it was a positive that he was staying within the offense, he went too far to the passive end of the spectrum. DeRozan spent most of the night trying in vain to to get to the free throw line. Then, when he did visit the charity stripe, the 83.1% free throw shooter misfired on half of his six freebies. In addition to his relatively few field goal attempts, DeRozan also wasn't doing much ball-handling or playmaking -- but was still responsible for three of the team's ten turnovers. Defensively, he was better than usual as the Spurs were successfully able to hide him for the most part.
Grade: C-
Summary: DeRozan wasn't DeRozan.

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Rudy Gay

For the second straight game, Rudy Gay wasn't good. He's 0-for-8 on three-pointers over the two contests and while he's been more successful inside the arc, he continues to look a beat out of rhythm. Gay did have a couple nice passes, went without a turnover and had a couple momentum-shifting plays defensively. But where he hurt the Spurs the most was on the defensive glass. Against the Nuggets, Gay wasn't boxing out adequately and only pulled down one defensive board in 24 minutes. That won't get the job done, especially considering the man who he was matched up with most (Mason Plumlee) had seven offensive rebounds. If Pop is going to continue to start the current small lineup, he'll need to see Gay rebound better than he has of late.
Grade: D+
Summary: Gay couldn't hit a three or grab rebound.

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Bryn Forbes

Bryn Forbes played rather well. He knocked down perimeter shots, took the ball to the hole with ferocity and remained a threat at all times. On the other end, I thought he was above average. He kept players in front of him for the most part, rotated with adequate speed and even tried to help out on the boards at times. It would have been helpful if he was faster to loose balls tonight or if he could have knocked down one of the game-tying threes -- but Forbes performed his duty at an admirable level.
Grade: B+
Summary: Forbes held up his end of the bargain.

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Derrick White

The good: Derrick White was a ballhawk on defense, as evident by his career-high six steals (I counted seven, for what it's worth). He wasn't quite as good on Jamal Murray man-to-man as he was last game but he made the Nuggets' up-and-coming point guard work hard for his production. On offense, White had a couple highlight-reel dunks and flashed his impressive court vision. The bad: Unfortunately, White's confidence in his shot is trending the wrong way. He's now hesitant to shoot a lot of the time, even if he's completely open and the coaches are yelling at him to shoot. His team-defense tonight was a step slow too often and he didn't help out on the defensive boards nearly enough.
Grade: B+
Summary: White made a number of key defensive plays but his overall game remains a work in progress.

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Davis Bertans

The statistics make it look like Davis Bertans had a normal game but I didn't really like how he played. Offensively, he forced a couple shots and was a ball-stopper, which is a rarity for him. Defensively, he reverted to being weak on the glass. His boxouts weren't determined and he had boards bounce off his fingers. Bertans' D was too spastic and left too many holes open, both individually and team-wise.
Grade: C-
Summary: Bertans struggled for the first time in a while.

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Marco Belinelli

It was a tale of two sides of the hardwood for Marco Belinelli in Denver. On offense, he was good enough. Perhaps he was a bit more subdued than usual, but that actually led to saner shot selection. Where Belinelli hurt the Spurs was on the defensive end. San Antonio struggled to get a stop whenever he was on the court. Slow closeouts on shooters, slow help defense, a pushover in the paint and too porous to penetration -- 'twas not a good showing for Belinelli on that end, to say the least.
Grade: C
Summary: Half pretty okay. Half bad.

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Patty Mills

Patty Mills' shooting slump is now worryingly long. Over the last seven games, he has no double-digit scoring nights and has hit 27% of his shots from the floor and only 8-of-27 three-pointers. Prior to this dry spell, Mills was playing quite well. But right now, he's a liability. He's second guessing his shots, he's forcing passes and he's not pushing the pace with the same level of consistency as previously. Defensively, his energy level is a step lower, which makes him a target for opponents to prey upon whenever he's on the court. Mills was terrible to start the season but he eventually snapped out of it. Now the Spurs need him to snap out of it for a second time.
Grade: D+
Summary: Mills isn't earning his paycheck right now.

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Jakob Poeltl

Jakob Poeltl's play was a silver lining for the shaky bench unit. He held down the fort in the lane well enough against a big Nuggets squad, though he too deserves part of the criticism for not doing better work on the defensive boards. He spent eight of his minutes playing next to Aldridge, an alignment he looks increasingly comfortable within. Poeltl had a sprinkle of smart passes, rim protections and one-on-one defensive stops. However, he'll probably most remember his missed free throws, particularly the one late.
Grade: B
Summary: Poeltl continues to grow.

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Dante Cunningham

Dante Cunningham played his first real minutes in five games and ... I thought he did well. Yeah, I said it. Cunningham did exactly what he's best at: he brought an edge, a ruggedness to the game that was previously lacking. The Spurs were going through the motions, Pop called on Cunningham to change that and I thought he did that during his five-minute first half cameo. He ran the court hard, threw his body around and crashed the defensive glass with a healthy amount of testosterone. That is the perfect role for him.
Grade: A-
Summary: Cunningham did what he's built to do.

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Pop

With hindsight being 20/20, Pop should have played White more in his native state, while Mills should have played less. More plays run for DeRozan could have helped get him on track. The late-game playcalls were bland, easily found on the first couple pages of the playbook. On the other hand, I like that he's warming up to the idea of Aldridge and Poeltl playing together, especially now with Pau Gasol healthy and available to play. Oh, and Pop's usage of Cunningham was perfect.
Grade: B-
Summary: Pop giveth and Pop taketh away.

Looking ahead: Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Good effort in the second half. Ah, well.

Can the Spurs win a second game of a back-to-back for the first time this season on Saturday night against the Clippers? That's the challenge. Los Angeles' best basketball team is 12-4 at home, so it will not be easy.

A win would make this a successful two-game mini road trip. A loss would be a return to the one step forward, two steps backwards vortex the Spurs were stuck in earlier in the season. It shall be interesting to see which version of the Spurs shows up.

[tbdog]

Frustrating loss. The Nuggets were hot from down town in the first. And the Spurs never got hot. Those three things you mentioned on top of huge momentum swing around the 8min mark in the 4th when the refs made three dreadful calls against the Spurs in a row is a tough pill to swallow. One of those areas get fixed up or if the refs made those there back to back to back calls correctly, then I think it's a double digit win, even with the Nuggets going hot in the first.

Finally Gasol was in uniform. We needed him out there.

[MoSpur02]

Thanks for the grades. I thought Pop should've done something early in the game to counter the Nuggets two big men lineup.

[MoSpur02]

Its also still pretty obvious we need a wing defender. White was pretty good, but we need a physical and quick guy who can defend out on the perimeter.

Derozan was super disappointing tonight. Hopefully he can bounce back later tonight in front of his hometown. Would also like to see Walker called up.

[Slippy]

Thanks for the grades. I thought Pop should've done something early in the game to counter the Nuggets two big men lineup.

He did, probably not the adjustments we wanted. He called timeouts twice in the first . Both were for not boxing out. Both times he ripped into Rudy the most.

[RC_Drunkford]

The Spurs will never win a 2nd night of a back-to-back game this season. I just don't see it happening. DeRozan had some awful stretches recently, I hope he can get back to the level he played at before. He wasn't really that good in the last home game against Denver either, he just got to stat pad when they sent him to the freethrow line at the end of the game

[John B]

Thanks Timvp. Davis attempted 5 goals, and connected 2. That’s not gonna do it. He’s too good a shooter to not attempt more, particularly the last few minutes when they’re trying to get back. Pop needs to draw up plays for Davis to get his shots up there. I particularly like White’s aggressiveness and infectious. Demar should exhibit the same aggressiveness, as one of the leaders of the team. Overall Spurs could’ve won if they connected more on their shots including the FT.

[monty4329]

Arguably a coaching staff loss.
Down 3 with 7 seconds to play: terrible playcall, and even worse lineups on both plays.

But, after all, coaching staff doesn't clang multiple free throws in the last couple minutes of the game.

[ceperez]

Lost the game on the free throw line.

[Hoops Czar]

DeRozen wasn't DeRozen? When DeRozen has a good game, he's not DeRozen. What you saw today was vintage DeRozen. DeRozen just doing what DeRozen does in big games.

[Spurs da champs]

The Spurs will never win a 2nd night of a back-to-back game this season. I just don't see it happening. DeRozan had some awful stretches recently, I hope he can get back to the level he played at before. He wasn't really that good in the last home game against Denver either, he just got to stat pad when they sent him to the freethrow line at the end of the game

Maybe he needs rest? Rest his overrated ass and give Lonnie some burn.

[RC_Drunkford]

Maybe he needs rest? Rest his overrated ass and give Lonnie some burn.

Lonnie is not over himself yet according to how Pop is treating him. 3 days off for Christmas should be enough rest. He played 2 games in the last 6 days

[MoSpur02]

He did, probably not the adjustments we wanted. He called timeouts twice in the first . Both were for not boxing out. Both times he ripped into Rudy the most.

I was thinking more like taking someone out and inserting someone like Poeltl.

[sananspursfan21]

Our guys had every opportunity. The refs quit favoring the Nuggets, defense shored up, and turnovers became theirs for the taking. Make some free throws and we’re talking about how cool it is the Spurs beat the best record in the West twice in three days

[sasaint]

Arguably a coaching staff loss.
Down 3 with 7 seconds to play: terrible playcall, and even worse lineups on both plays.

But, after all, coaching staff doesn't clang multiple free throws in the last couple minutes of the game.

But on the other hand, coaching staff does keep Patty on the court too long when he is dreadful.

[Spurs da champs]

White should have played the entire 4th, Patty had no business being out there. Also Murray should have been attacked once he twisted his ankle. Spurs let mismatches or injured opponents off the hook far too often.

[dbestpro]

Really think Davis needed to be the guy to take the last shot not in bounding the ball. His height would at least allow him to get a shot off. Last 30 seconds of the game was mismanaged by Pop.

[monty4329]

Really think Davis needed to be the guy to take the last shot not in bounding the ball. His height would at least allow him to get a shot off. Last 30 seconds of the game was mismanaged by Pop.

Agree. But then I watched Dallas, and suddently Pop's end-of-game management seemed top notch....

[vavvi]

I was okay with Pop calling the play for Forbes with 7 seconds to go. We got unlucky there.
But I didn't like rolling with only 1 3pt-shooter for the last 3-4 minutes of the 4th. White-Forbes-DeMar-LA-Poeltl is not a line-up able to produce points consistently playing from behind.

[bklynspursfan]

I was okay with Pop calling the play for Forbes with 7 seconds to go. We got unlucky there.
But I didn't like rolling with only 1 3pt-shooter for the last 3-4 minutes of the 4th. White-Forbes-DeMar-LA-Poeltl is not a line-up able to produce points consistently playing from behind.

It was tough, but I think they did a solid job with that lineup. Controlling the boards were obviously a priority, and they were right there. Missed FTs hurt big time

[tmtcsc]

Agree. But then I watched Dallas, and suddently Pop's end-of-game management seemed top notch....

Nah, Dennis Smith Jr. totally ed that play up. Complete selfishness. That's going to be a problem for the Mavs. Luka is clearly their best player and Smith isn't liking it.

[tmtcsc]

I was okay with Pop calling the play for Forbes with 7 seconds to go. We got unlucky there.
But I didn't like rolling with only 1 3pt-shooter for the last 3-4 minutes of the 4th. White-Forbes-DeMar-LA-Poeltl is not a line-up able to produce points consistently playing from behind.

I think Belineli should have gotten the last shot. If anyone can launch a crazy-ass, off balance shot with about half a second left, its him.

[monty4329]

Nah, Dennis Smith Jr. totally ed that play up. Complete selfishness. That's going to be a problem for the Mavs. Luka is clearly their best player and Smith isn't liking it.

Granted, but still I am not sure I'd call it a smart play to keep your "34-points with 7-10 from 3, best player of the night" frozen on last play. To me it is even worse than having your best shooters benched or inbounding with 7 to play. Or maybe not, now that I think about it, maybe Pop's playcall was really worse.

[monty4329]

I think Belineli should have gotten the last shot. If anyone get launch a crazy-ass, off balance shot with about half a second left, its him.

He has a history of making difficult last shots, everywhere he played. Last year in Philly he got a few, even in Chicago won several games at the buzzer. Unexplicable playcall, totally dumb.

[phxspurfan]

This game was very par for the course for the Spurs. , maybe a little bit under par. Their roster is still pretty , filled with players who are entering their washed up years (Gay, Mills, Pau, Beli, LMA maybe, DeMar even looks washed already). The other pieces are either too young (White, Bert, Purrtl) or just flat out not that great or too inconsistent to make up the deficits elsewhere (Mills, Forbes, Cunningham). While their coach/staff is still excellent, and that might win them a few more games than the roster deserves due to creative schemes in the regular season against opponents that are also middling, this is probably still the worst Spurs team in the last 20 years. And that includes some of the teams in the Dark / Lost Years (08-12) that barely hit 50 wins or got bounced out of the playoffs early.

One thing this team has in common with those teams: the roster lacks a, or several, critical pieces to be great. A long 3 (or 2-3 of those are needed these days), and a strong PG who can either light his man up to tire him out, or play stifling defense. We had the former in Murray, too bad he got hurt.

Face it, this is a lost year. The roster construction basically doomed it from the start. The Spurs might even make the playoffs, but the level of play will be nothing like we’re used to seeing. Frustration lies ahead for the fans.


Edit: also, as others have mentioned, this year many of the top teams including the Dubs are looking weaker than usual and a trip to the Finals is ripe for the picking. But again unfortunately, with the roster as it is right now, this team lacks the horses to contend, even in a mediocre West.