RealGM

Granted, it's against the most predictable offense in the league but to hold an NBA team to 5 points in 12 minutes (2 points in the first 10 minutes of the 3rd) is still impressive.

Well, we rank 5th in defensive efficiency this year compared to 11 last year. Major difference this year has been the way Duncan protects the rim IMO. And especially lately I really like our defense with the insertion of Tiago to the starting lineup to give us size and some shotblocking compared to Diaw/Bonner/Blair. And then Kawhi coming back just have a huge impact on the game especially in terms of getting steals and deflections.

Duncan paired with Splitter is looking real good at the moment. Kawhi's long arms and athleticism is a big help too. You can see that Pop has been auditioning replacements for Bowen since he retired, and it looks like he's found his guy. It's early days but Leonard has so much upside it's ridiculous. Green has really come into his own defensively as well.

Donald Kaufman wrote:Duncan paired with Splitter is looking real good at the moment. Kawhi's long arms and athleticism is a big help too. You can see that Pop has been auditioning replacements for Bowen since he retired, and it looks like he's found his guy. It's early days but Leonard has so much upside it's ridiculous. Green has really come into his own defensively as well.

The starting lineup is at worst average defensively. The lack of spacing hurts but it helps to have two good passing big men.