4TH Q: SPURS 93 CELTICS 137
How about that 1ST Q?! And then it was all downhill from there. You could track it in multiple ways.
Score by Qs: 32, 26, 19, 16
By 3s per half: from 8-20 to 0-16 OOF.
By 3s allowed per half: from 6-20 to 18-44.
So we got doubled in makes - that's 24 points right there.
Efficiency per half dropped from 44.9% to finishing with 37.1%
We only had 10TOs but bled points on them badly. These cost us another 22 points for -8 in the category.
We were 11-0 against in blocked shots, lost PITP 62-46 and were outrebounded a whopping 61-38, including 9-3 on O boards from which we lost more points on second chances given up.
That was the overall impression - an opponent's game not only imposed on us after the 1ST Q, but us allowing it too easily.
I expected a 'too soft' comment from Pop in the post game interview but instead he said he thought we '... just gave in' which is even more damning OOF. And true. We were resisted and bested in just about every meaningful category, including ones we usually excel in.
It's one thing to play a contender still fighting for seeding; it's another to just take it.
Kudos to Collins and Mamu for some good play; Devin struggled with consistency and wasn't really full tilt on D. Tre showed more assertiveness to start the second half, and I liked Romeo's minutes.
We gang rebounded but went away from it or allowed ourselves to get pushed around, didn't run back on D, and chased shots.
We know we can do better because we've shown it regardless of who was available. Misses are frustrating, but the big lesson of compete level staying consistent is the take away.
POST-GAME INTERVIEWS