Oh my heart! Oh. My. Heart.
YES!
Well, we overcame one nemesis in slow starts with a blazing 37-26 first quarter thanks to LMA going absolute superstar mode on O early, and then getting key defensive contests and stops late. That matches our season high for firsts. Then they ended on runs the next three quarters, 10-0 in the second (we didn't score in the last 3:35, but maintained the lead at the half 60-58), our 10-0 run in the third was countered by their 8-0 run to end the quarter (but we maintained the lead 78-73), and though we didn't score a FG in the last 5:55 of the fourth, so there's room for improvement, we gave ourselves enough of a cushion throughout the game to pull away for the much needed win.
We put ourselves in that position thanks to some stellar D with blocks, great angles to take away easy shots and drives for them, and doing a great job mitigating their pace, matching it at times, and controlling it in others. We bent, but did not break; we kept our composure in a high-stakes, pressure-filled game, executing late on both ends.
Lemonade out of lemons:
It feels really good to overcome what seemed like a mental block late in games. We scored enough to put ourselves in a position to win, and defended really well team-wide - they scored 58 in the first half, and 35 in the second - to seal the win.
Congratulations to Danny for a career high 6 blocks
He said in a post-game interview that he'd have liked a block when he took that elbow to the face. "I'll take the block for some stitches." He looks like a hockey player now. Just when I didn't think I could like him more lol
Manu was so critical for us, blocking, taking charges, getting rebounds, scoring timely 2s and 3s. I love him.
Humble and funny are good, rare combinations. We have that team-wide.
I hope Murray's youth and a sip or two of Manu's magic grandpa juice has him ready. He was wonderful for us tonight, surprisingly our only player with a double double (18 points, 12 rebounds) and balanced getting his shots with distributing really well.
We held a moment of silence in honour of Tom Benson. RIP.
It was a gutsy grind, but a higher level effort all around by our guys. Great to see us turning it up a notch and playing more cohesively at just the right time; this is our first back-to-back win since late January. Of course, we need to build off of it, make this the bar from which to rise going forward. I love our team.
GO SPURS GO!
