SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 76: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 28-3-2022, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Sengun's FT routine is quickly climbing to top of most annoying. Stop breathing all over the **** ball, dude. Weirdo routine.

[G R E Y]

Star-crossed Primo on O tonight SMH

[G R E Y]

JRich forces a bad pass by forcing driver to baseline, then zips a quick alley oop pass to a rolling Zach for a dunk!

Alley oops are back!

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 96

ROCKETS 84

Well considering we were down 7 or so in this Q, to come back to tie it and maintain our 12-pint lead is solid.

We hit a 3 on our final possession - yeah!

We allowed a 3 right back o their final possession - HHHHnnnnnn...

If we can JUST PLAY SOME CONSISTENT D THE REST OF THE GAME, SPURS!!!

[G R E Y]

We 3.

They 3.

We miss 3.

They 3.

Pop timeout.

Someone want to -- GUARD THE ARC??!

[imagump1313]

Quick 6-0 run for them *sigh*

We have a 30 - THIRTY! - point advantage in the paint and we start the 3RD Q settling for outside shots.

Pop has to burn a timeout early to get our heads out of ours asses on D.

You can tell we have no sense of urgency because we think we can get what we want offensively.
Hopefully they don't get on a run cause that will be dangerous in a game like this. Houston isn't really working for good shots, they are just getting ok looks because of our defense.

[G R E Y]

Primo's so inconsistent on paint shots. Doesn't have a routine release. Cowers when contested and fakes himself out and rushes imbalanced shots. Then he fouls on the other end. Have to live with the trial by fire.

[G R E Y]

They are using a full court press. Why aren't we?

[G R E Y]

And I hope DJ doesn't go mano-a-mano late in this game. We need to keep the ball moving.

[G R E Y]

Why isn't Jakob in now?!

TOO STAGNANT ON BOTH ENDS.

Keep moving, keep the ball moving, protect it, contest it, score it, Spurs!

[G R E Y]

Ok here's Jakob, good.

[G R E Y]

WOW A 3 MISS OUT OF A TIMEOUT WHEN WE CAN'T HIT THESE AND HAVE A GREAT LEAD IN POINTS IN THE PAINT.

[imagump1313]

LOL, here it comes....

[G R E Y]

Fundamentals are sexy - box out, Spurs!

[G R E Y]

JESUS...

JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

And they even got a hand on the O board first but time ran out.

Have to be good to be lucky. Or something like that.

Juuuuuuust enough momentum went our way.

PHEW!

[imagump1313]

LMAO. Games like this feel like a loss. I don't see how people can be happy or blinded by crap wins. I've given in to hoping for the play in but for what? To get destroyed by a team that doesn't make more mistakes than we do?

[G R E Y]

Eh it happens, even to great teams. Rather we be on the winning end and learning lessons than not.

[G R E Y]

EVERYBODY HOLD YOUR BREATH AND POSE.... *click* GOT IT!

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[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 123

ROCKETS 120

Must keep it brief as I'm zonked at the right time for once in a blue moon.

It boiled down to a few key factors. First,

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And this, some context:

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Remarkably, the team that struggles to make its FTs despite leading the league in attempts bested us here 24-28 to our 22-28. We fouled more as the game progressed, and then when they went on a run in the 4TH Q they kept hitting 3s, and these were contested, too. It's what happens when you let teams shoot themselves back into games. They get a rhythm, and get a rhythm they did.

We were frankly lucky on their last two 3s misses, but we also did put ourselves ahead enough to have that cushion.

As Pop said, four road games and their accompanying travel in 10 days wore on us. But I think we didn't have the requisite desperation from the start, frankly, at least not consistently.

DJ was on a tear early and late in the game he both managed the clock and called his own number. Half way there. He missed his pet spot shots, but he got into open positions for them. They also blocked a lot of our shots down low late in the game (the single element missing from Zach's game now is his hops) and that put even more pressure on our outside Js. Luckily DJ was relentless in driving, absorbing contact and finishing well for some +1s. He led us at the FT line 9-12.

We were buoyed by his career high 33 points on 11-18, 2-5 from 3, and he had to drag us along as he led the starters in 3s made. Keldon was only 1-5, and Devin and Primo combined for 0-5. OOF! Neither number is good enough.

DJ also led us with 11 assists, grabbed 7 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in a game high 38 minutes.

Jakob was the other Spur to finish with a double double on a stellar 8-10, 1-2FTs, and a game high 13 boards (and game high 5 on O). He uncharacteristically had no assists, but registered a steal and of course 2 blocks. His mobility disrupted other shots at the rim and he was a menace in putbacks. His quick hands at the rim gave us some crucial points down the stretch, including beating the shot clock late in the game to save our scrambling possession.

Devin, Primo and Jock struggled mightily, combining for 18 points on 7-30, 1-8 from 3. Just... OOF! But Devin did terrific work on rebounds, using his length and determination well to get 8 of them (3 of them on O) from outstretched opponent effort, made 3-3FTs, made 2 assists, and got 1 steal. He fought over screens all night and contested decently. He kept driving, kept getting to his preferred spots, just... missed everything outside of like 3 feet close to the basket. It happens, and so when the shots aren't falling, we have to be able to do other things well.

Devin and DJ did just that, Primo stayed with drivers well and disrupted shots and passes (led the team with 3 steals) but had one of those games where he couldn't hit the ocean off the side of the boat (been a while since I used that one).

I was glad to see that Pop subbed him out for JRich to finish the game. He led us with 3-8 from 3 and considering we only scored 7 from the arc, we needed every one of them. He was our sixth man with 15 points on 5-11, 2-2FTs, 6 boards (1 on O), bench high 5 assists in 33 minutes. He was wonderful slipping over and under screens and covering a lot of ground surprisingly quickly to contest 3s. He's just terrific at this, and given that he's not one of our better 3s shooters, I reiterate that I wonder whether he's insurance for Lonnie.

Jock and Tre both played 13 minutes but were on opposite ends of the efficiency spectrum. Whereas Tre made 3-4 along with 2 assists, and one each of a block and a steal, Jock was just 1-3, making a lone three. Given our margin of victory, truly the cliche every point counts rose to the moment. He did grab 4 boards, 2 on O which helped extent our possessions. Every detail counts. And hustle plays like ensuring extra possessions, getting deflections, contesting shots, fighting for position may not have shown on the general stat board, but they contributed to the win.

This was the epitome of 3 and D, or more precisely, 3 and 3. Keldon's shot chart was once again arc and paint attempts, and he used his physicality to bowl through and Euro step through and dunk and finish with finesse all through the game. He got banged up several times, kept getting up, kept pushing through. He logged 36 minutes in which he scored 21 points on 7-17, 1-6 from 3 (uncharacteristic again, but perhaps a sign of the fatigue of the trip), but he did make 6-7FTs from all those drives. He also grabbed 7 boards (2 on O), had 4 assists (once again terrific), and got 2 steals. Still some missed rotations, but he is fighting over screens better, and his contests at the arc were, but for DJ and JRich, needing of work like the team wholesale.

If this was a conserving energy type of game, or one in which we used the last of our reserves, then we fought through well and it explains our lax effort, especially on D.

Zach provided an extra jolt as he (21) and Jakob (27) played a similar number of minutes. He made some good post moves as he spun into the key for a quick lay in versus a mismatched player, making all of his points in the restricted area be it from sealing his man well, rolling to the rim well, or converting O boards into putbacks. He was very active with 8 boards (4 on O) and despite being blocked down low he kept pushing his nose and claimed that space. Wiry, but fiercely competitive.

Our 3s and D weren't exactly on display, except if looking at how we lacked both, but we did a great job on the boards, winning 56-44, including an impressive 17-10 on O. We kept collapsing well to gang rebound and make sure we didn't give easy ones. And 11 steals on their 12TOs showed an effort to get at them when they weren't making 3s. We converted their TOs for a solid 21 points as well.

Each area contributed to offset their huge 20-7 advantage in made 3s, and we did just enough to gain the favour of the basketball gods. Or we put in enough effort to give us a cushion that allowed us favoured us late. Harder to make clutch shots when you're down, and we contested well on a shot they had to take, they had made a lot of, and with timing being everything, one of their 29 misses from the arc being the last one, coincidentally well contested like their previous two makes. Third time's the swirled out charm.

Not exactly a D clinic, but a poor team caught fire from the arc and it just shows how many mistakes it can cover. Our shot selection and D both got us into a hot mess and got us out of it. There's a lot to playing with nothing to lose and playing with a momentum when you're running on fumes.

It was ugly but we found a way, just narrow enough sliver of a path to squeeze through, matching our season high four-game winning streak, all on the road, and progressing forward of our play-in goal. Onward!

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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