San Antonio Spurs recap
My love for Stephen Curry is a very real thing. He is the most exciting player in the NBA and watching the Golden State Warriors without him just isn’t the same. For a second I thought it was the Memphis Grizzlies playing basketball tonight; 48 minutes of disjointed offense, excellent defense and a boring 82 to 80 loss. I already have to suffer on Sundays watching the 49ers grind out wins with boring offense and dominating defense.
Steph is the antithesis of all these things, which is why I love him and the Warriors. He brings very little defense to the table, but my god is he exciting on offense. I could watch him pull up from 27 feet all day. Literally, you could put every three from last year in a compilation and I would watch it over and over again. What’s that? It already exists? Excellent!
Let me share the 10 minutes of magic with all of you.
In the NBA more often than not the team with the best player on the floor wins the game. Tonight Tony Parker was the best player on the floor and when it mattered most he made the difference. He continued to keep the Warriors just out of striking range. Every time the Warriors made a push Parker made the big shots to put them back down 4. With 2:30 left in the 4th quarter Parker had scored 15 of the San Antonio Spurs previous 16 points.
It didn’t help the Warriors case that they continued to let the Spurs get offensive rebounds. A key mistake they made against the Clippers in there only other loss of the season was allowing Deandre Jordan continually get offensive rebounds late in the game. And late in the game down two they made a great defensive stand only to allow the Spurs their 6th offensive rebound of the quarter.
That’s when Tony Parker decided to give the Warriors a gift. He missed two free throws with a chance to put the game out of reach with 15 seconds left. What ensued was one of the ugliest offensive possessions I have ever seen. Without Steph there just isn’t a go to option when they need a clutch shot.
A few key highlights because I want to have some fun on my Friday night.
- Tony Douglas had a great night tonight. If the warriors can get half the production they got from him tonight he will be valuable off the bench this season. He did a great job guarding Parker earlier in the game because Klay Thompson really struggled with his quickness all night. He finished with 21 points on 5-9 from three.
- The Warriors defense is legit. They held the Spurs to under 39.2% shooting making this the 5th team they have held to under 40% shooting.
- I was happy that Klay showed more initiative tonight on offensive side of the ball. He was more aggressive then I have seen him all season. Obviously this was due to the absence of Steph, but maybe he will carry some of that aggressiveness with him for the rest of the season. He struggled a bit tonight but as the primary offensive option that was to be expected.
It’s on to Memphis to play the Grizzlies. Hopefully I will get my beloved Steph back for tomorrow night but my guess is it won’t be happening.