The San Antonio Spurs got their 50th win of the season against the Clippers in Los Angeles. They dominated the glass and got significant contributions from Area 51 plus more. It’s their first time reaching that many wins since 2016-17, and they still have 14 games left.
They came out stumbling like they had the Venice Beach flu, missing their first seven shots and were behind 14 points in fewer than five minutes. Their offense was getting out of the mud by the end of the first quarter, in part because
of De’Aaron Fox’s rim pressure and Carter Bryant’s hustle, but they were slow to get back in transition and cover the 3-point line.
The Spurs’ ball movement and persistence to break into the lane closed the distance quickly in the second quarter. The other factor was that the Clippers’ half-court offense couldn’t sustain its production, and they weren’t allowed to advance on the break anymore. It was turning into a massacre going into halftime as the Spurs outscored them by 22 in the period.
They subsequently returned to blasting the paint like a wild ball and chain leveling a building. On top of that, Devin Vassell made sure to sprinkle in two 3-pointers, and they led by as much as 24 points.
Naturally, they got comfortable, and a Clippers surge followed when Castle checked out. By the fourth, Wemby’s length wasn’t the same intimidation factor since the Clippers were getting inside, and the frustration on the Spurs was palpable. They were hanging on for much of the period and even when they were about to pull away, Darius Garland nailed a four-point play to keep LAC in it.
The Spurs had to play the free-throw game in the last minute, and Vassell plus Fox delivered. They also got some help by the Clippers taking too long to shoot before fouling, and they weren’t 3-pointers, which played into the Spurs’ hands.
Observations
- No Kawhi Leonard for the Clippers meant that they couldn’t bend the defense at mid-range, yet the Spurs still took them lightly and were a step slow to recover after helping. Stephon Castle’s top assignment became Garland. The latter’s shot creation caused the Spurs to over-help, as he set up 3-pointers, and he burned them with multiple of his own, yet he slowed down in part by his own hand, making lazy passes that ended in turnovers.
- Luke Kornet’s absence opened the door for Mason Plumlee and Bryant to get minutes as the backup center. Bryant even got some time checking the burly Brook Lopez and was trying to front the entry pass to the post. He did well and played a key stretch of center in the fourth, but these types of challenges won’t always have positive results this early in his career. What counts is that he plays every game like it’s his last.
- The Spurs can crank up the intensity with any squad. Bryant and Castle each recovered an offensive rebound after a free throw in the first half, and Johnson forced a turnover in Clippers territory while in full-court press. Yet they can also suffer terrible drop-offs, like six third-quarter turnovers, that reinvigorate the opponent, and sometimes the team has to win twice.
- The threes weren’t falling in the first half, so the Spurs detonated in the paint for 42 paint points despite seeing more bodies up close because of a zone, and finished with 64. Their reinforcements, led by Johnson, were not effective in the second half, and it took major work in the trenches to get away. Keep in mind that the team had 22 offensive rebounds, a new season high, and those turned into 25 second-chance points.
- Multiple penetrators next to the Wemby in the rotation ensure a high level of read-and-react offense in which opponents mostly pick the wrong poison. Castle was fearless when he put his head down, and even showed off some fancy dribbling. Most impressively, he finished with a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio.
