Firstly, I hope Green is all right...
Well, we’re certainly proving the ‘it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’ adage with a less than focused beginning to yet another game. We couldn’t hit the ocean spitting off the side of a boat, but the turning point in the first Q was Pop’s tech. Before it, Spurs shot 2-11, and I think 8-11 afterwards. (Thank goodness Pop kept it reined in even though C’s got some ‘home’ non-calls). It looks as if the initial strategy was going to LMA(5-8) and Gasol(1-5) as they had 13 shot attempts between them. Gasol struggled on O, but contributed with key rebounds on both ends, and we played with some more urgency and focus on D to finish a respectable 5 points down to close the Q. Still, we gave up 31 points and got bombarded by the 3 (4-9), which opened up their stellar inside scoring (9-12 inside the 3, 6-7 in the key, yikes...)
The second Q Spurs made a concerted effort to shoot the 3, making 4-10, and converted 6-8 inside. Pretty much a reversal of the first Q, mirroring C’s game in the opening Q. Parker not only scored, he kept on driving, which made Irving finally work more on D. C’s made it really hard for Spurs to get to the basket, but our determination kept pushing through. Spurs D was much tighter, and C’s came down to earth in shooting inside and outside the arc. Bertans showed some toughness on D, and I loved LMA’s hustle. I started feeling good about our chances when his 3 dropped in a teasing swirl. Lady luck smiled on us. Then, of course, the Q ended with an amazing no-look pass by Mills to Manu for the 3 and the lead at the half.
By the 3rd, Spurs made life more difficult for Irving, forcing quicker decisions and shots. He’s impossible to stop, but the consistent intensity on D was there. Rudy, and Pau got busier on the boards, and along with Tony and LMA, provided balanced scoring and kept us in it. Pau’s stroke is beautiful; he can be making that outside they key J when he’s 50.
I was surprised to see Forbes get the Irving assignment on D. Got thrown into the fire there, but it’s a big challenge in a big game and he didn’t let the moment overwhelm him. Good 3, great awareness for a key steal, and strong contesting on D. He played 35 minutes, and had a team-high +21. You can tell it means a lot to him to be able to contribute against such a quality opponent. Bertans had a brutal shooting night. Rushed it, and was often too far back behind the arc. When he misses, it’s almost always short, clanking the front of the rim. Cs did a good job rushing his shots or forcing him back a bit farther. Bertans needs a little more time than Cs sometimes gave him, and that he sometimes gave himself. Still, he was intense on D (he didn’t back down from Morris) throughout the night, and got a block, a steal, and two rebounds.
The fourth belonged to the vets: Green’s two 3s, two rebounds and block proved huge to the final result, as did Rudy’s quick jumps for put backs, and LMA muscling Horford to get to his sweet spot, and either scoring or slowing the pace, getting so much of Cs attention that he had his choice of team mates to pass to and get the ball moved around for an open shot. Pacing, spacing, ball movement, control under pressure by asserting their game. Irving, Tatum, and Brown got theirs despite our D getting better as the game progressed, so keeping AH busy on busy on D all night and neutralizing him was important.
It’s hard to overstate how much I appreciate purposeful and timely timeouts, like the one in the first Q and the one half way through the fourth that brought in the subs who got the lead and fought back when Cs edged ahead. Key rebounds by Rudy, Pau and Manu contributed to give us a 15-6 (give or take one or two) advantage in the final Q. The way Spurs raise their game with just what’s needed has really been impressive. Some of it is keeping the nerves in check, but also just fundamentals on both sides of the ball – rebounding positioning and grit, awareness of passing lanes for steals, recognizing mismatches and passing to team mates to take advantage of them, protecting the ball with the body on drives, sticking with plays for put backs. None, of course, was more key than Manu’s O rebound that led to his final game-winning 3. It was perfect form. It was perfect Manu magic. He understated it in a post-game interview, but that shot is ‘lucky’ because of thousands of hours of practice spanning decades.
In the Cs first inbound attempt, Spurs switched and contested everything. Wonderful poise and toughness in a tight situation. On the second, Irving got to his corner 3 spot, but a strong contest by Rudy flying by was just enough, I like to think, to get KI out of a perfect rhythm to have to reset and shoot. Anyway, so long as Rudy didn’t foul, this was the best possible outcome.
I loved seeing the mutual respect and sportsmanship among the players from both teams. Very tough battles, but not dirty, and players helped their opponents up after whistles.
Did Irving really get only ONE assist?! They’re without Gordon and had four in double figures, but not sure how sustainable that is come playoffs. Guess we’ll see… We had five in double figures, with three starters out. I loved our finish, but hope we work on starting on time, like at the beginning of the game, not snapping to it half way through the opening quarter after getting behind and having to work to get back to par. Maybe we could just pretend we’re down 10 at the beginning of the game to come out with focus and energy. Defending 3s also has to be on the practice to-do list. Still, tremendous heart in the comeback, full team effort. Our FG, and 3PT percentages ended up being very close to, but ever so slightly better those of the Cs, with a big rebounding advantage for us. Each play counts. That we keep getting wins against top teams like Pistons and now Cs despite self-imposed hurdles shows that on the whole we’re doing more good things well. Need to reset quickly for the next one.
Noteworthy individual achievement:
Green has 500 steals and 401 blocks in his career. Green, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the only players since 2009 with 500 steals, 400 blocks and 800 3-pointers.
http://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=400975125I love this team. GO SPURS!
