The San Antonio Spurs denied the Detroit Pistons revenge in the first game at Frost Bank Center since Feb. 7. The difference was that they got everything they wanted at 0-3 feet, plus got a nice boost from second opportunities and playing in transition.
They kept it simple early, running one of the most successful plays coach Mitch Johnson has: give it to Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. They were shooting stars at long, mid and short range, which took away the Pistons’ transition attack since
they had to check the ball in often.
Wemby plus Fox still were unrestrained, keeping their feet on the gas like a boxer trying to close while their opponent was on the ropes. They combined for nearly two-thirds of the team’s first-half points, and the defense didn’t give the Pistons any breaks either, making Cade Cunningham look ordinary, and blowing up the actions they ran in the lane.
The Spurs then came out of intermission with a 16-point lead, pushing the pace and invading the lane. Wembanyama was like a shark that sniffed blood, and went back at Duren, forcing him to sit, which compromised Detroit’s backline defense. Yet, they allowed the Pistons to maintain a pulse as they were close to flatlining when there was 22 points of separation. The lead was eventually cut to eight going into the fourth, and Detroit was able to take advantage when Wemby sat.
He was back for the start of the fourth and his two-way impact was the ingredient the team needed, as their mojo returned. Fox had a late burst, but they made the same mistakes as the last quarter, inviting the Pistons back into the game when lowering the RPMs. Cunningham even cut the lead to 10 points with fewer than three minutes left on a 3-pointer with contact, yet the Spurs prevailed thanks to late heroics from Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie.
Observations
- Jalen Duren is built like a stack of bricks. Seeing how Wembanyama can handle that type of strength is illuminating, and on some occasions, his length was the perfect counter. Wembanyama intelligently went at him when he was in foul trouble and kept getting defenders to bite on his fakes. Additionally, Isaiah Stewart is smaller, but powerfully built and he got shot over, too.
- The Pistons have notably been the East’s top team without a second big-time shot creator next to Cunningham. Their defense is second-best in the league thanks to a surplus of quick guys with size and desire, making up for being a poor 3-point shooting team. But Ausar Thompson, one of the key players on the perimeter, was limited to two minutes because he twisted his ankle on the break. Still, this shouldn’t be looked at as a letdown performance from Detroit, but instead one of those top-notch showings by the Spurs that exposed them.
- Cunningham got off to a slow start in part because of pressure from Castle, and the quick help defense bothering him. Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, two youngsters with size and quickness, also got time guarding him. The Spurs’ defense held them to 110.5 points, good enough for the 36th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.
- In a lot of cases, the fourth quarter is not the most important one, but rather the first one is since it sets the tone with a double-figure lead. Keep in mind how exhausting it is to erase a deficit like that. On top of that, the Spurs made seven 3-pointers in the first quarter along with four offensive rebounds that turned into eight second-chance points. They even scored 71 points by intermission, and it was the 14th time this season they have logged at least 70 in that stretch, and their record is 12-2 on those nights.
- Credit to the Los Angeles Clippers, who are Friday’s opponent, for turning their season around, but this game should have been put on national TV instead when scheduling was done because both sides were on the come-up. It would have also been a nice opportunity to get more eyeballs on their second encounter in 10 nights.
- Wembanyama had 38 points, tying his third-highest scoring night of the season. He and Fox will get most of the glory, yet Castle played a fine game, taking care of the ball and setting up his teammates with 12 assists, with seven coming in the first half.
- If these teams meet up in the Finals, it will be a tough series for Luke Kornet as he doesn’t play high enough against screen rolls. He was a weakness at the end of the third quarter, when Detroit sliced the lead from 15 to eight in his minutes.
