SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 38: SPURS AT LAKERS, 13-1-2025, 9:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Back at it. We must regroup and focus. To get back to the right column, we have to get back to team basketball. It's not a mystery, just hunger and effort.

WHERE: crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

WHEN: Monday, January 13, 2024, 9pm (CT)

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GO SPURS GO!!!

[G R E Y]

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[G R E Y]

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[G R E Y]

1ST Q: SPURS 28 LAKERS 26

Wemby balling.

Dev struggling.

Keldon the only bench player to have scored.

But 9 assists already and only 3TOs.

I'll take it after 5 days off.

[G R E Y]

2ND Q: SPURS 53 LAKERS 62

Too many points against.

Dev isn't making quick decisions / good decisions with the ball. He is also too slow in getting the ball to a rollnig Wemby who has to reset multiple times versus much smaller defenders. GET. WEMBY. THE. DAMN. BALL. It's relevant becuase they are the top two FGA takers, clearly their two man game being a focal point.

Vets are doing their job: Barnes shooting well, getting boards and assists; CP3 leads us with 4 assists and 3 steals.

Bench only 6 points. Oof. Perhaps we can give minutes to someone else healthy who can score.

Right now the difference is the opponent making three more 3s.

Hey Mamu makes 3s at a good clip. Pains me as it does to say it, so does Branham.

Crisper actions and decisions with the ball. Fewer transition points against. Run and execute our sets.

GSG

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 89 LAKERS 89

Ok ok much better Q, winning this one 36-27.

Wemby, Dev, and Castle a three-headed power monster.

Good work on the O boards for second chances. That Keldon end of Q 3 was a result of one of them.

If we could just make layups...

If we could just get a higher quality bak-up C...

Julian isn't making 3s. Can we get Mamu some bloody minutes?!

15-5 run by us to end this Q. Let's pick up where we left off and make a strong final Q push.

[imagump1313]

Always a good day to see the stupid Lakers lose to us

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 126 LAKERS 102

Well we sure shook off the rust by the second half and especially the final Q.

We outscored them 73-40 in the second half, going a couple of 15+ point runs in each Q.

CP3 was masterful in pace and decisions with the ball. Led us with 10 assists, and our lone double double with 13 points. Great control of the clock and our sets and therefore the game.

We did a better job getting to our spots and getting the ball to the weak side. CP3 and Dev skip passes were terrific to find teammates in the opposite corners.

CP3 did a great job setting up and hunting down mismatches. Barnes absolutely took advantage in the right block posting up Reaves. Led us with 6-6FTs.

We overcame missing quite a lot of bunnies. Just whiffed layups. Yes contested, but also just have to focus and sharpen the tools.

Loved that we had all five starters in double figures led by the three-headed monster that is Wemby-Dev-Castle.

Wemby: 23-8-5-3-2 with only 1TO and game-high+26 in 34 minutes is A+ Alien game. And frankly he looked a bit winded and slowed at times. Hard after five days off.

Dev: resurgent 23-6-4-2 on excellent efficiency, game best 5-9 from 3 was really good to see. Had to feel good for him, too. Consistency is key. We know he has a higher floor in him than he's produced since his return, and tonight was a glimpse of it. I liked how he made weakside passes. I said this already but these game reads rather than tunnel vision driving into space already taken up by teammates is so important for us. Much more within a structure of our team concept, and we and he benefitted. Love how he ran down fast breaks on D and how he covered the perimeter so well. Hard effort all around. Smarter decisions. Justly rewarded.

Castle: shook off shooting rust to come through with 23-4-1-2. Drove relentlessly. All but four of his 16FGAs were in the paint, and of those, only one was near the FT line. All others were around the rim. Fearless. Shone brightest under the brightest lights. Loves pressure and performs well in it.

We overcame Julian having an off game with Keldon stepping up and making physical drives and a key 3, leading the bench with 10.

I like Tre very much but not sure he should be the lone guard getting bench minutes. Mamu absolutely needs moer minutes. We benefit from it every time he's out there.

We absolutely need a higher floor back up C. All due respect to Bassey, he's got flaws to his game. That said, he led us with 9 boards, and team high 3 on O. Collins is more skilled and fundamentally sound and if we could fuse the two together we'd have something. As it is, they alternate being the second big, to mixed results. If all of Spurs fandom sees this need, I'm sure PATFO does, too. It's becomeing too taxing on Wemby. There's a fine balance between expanding his game and minutes and over-relying on him. Tonight so many other Spurs stepped up and we showed what a multi-threat danger to play against we can be.

Thirty assists to 10TOs is excellent. We were +10 in points given up from TOs.

Fifteen steals and six blocks is good defensive activity. We were +4 in fast break points.

17-20FTs is very solid ROI. We were +26 in PITP.

So even though we made one 3 less, we also took nine fewer attempts from the arc even though we edged them 90-87FGAs. Thirty-five 3s attempts is a much better shot balance and finding of ways to better take advantage of our scoring chances. Much better team effort, much better ball sharing and off ball movement, and huge resoluteness to turn the game around from down over 10 to up 24.

Very proud of our resilience and game plan execution, better utilizing of our strengths inside and out, on both ends.

We slipped in the standings both by missed opportunities and by teams leaping us as we didn't play, and so we went from 8th to 12th as we waited to play again. Beating a West rival as we fight back up the standings is a good boost of confidence and feedback about how we are at our best playing a D-first, team-focused game. It's the Spurs way. And it's a welcome sight to see it again. Let's keep it going.